JOE HILL: CATHOLIC ANARCHIST MARTYR
In which W.D. James shares some Labor Movement Anthems for Labor Day
Hey Folks,
Well, it’s the Labor Day long weekend!
There might not that much to celebrate about the current state of the labor movement, now that (most) unions have basically been incorporated into the system that keeps workers down, but the history of the U.S. Labor Movement (and its parallel in Canada) is indeed something to be proud of.
As trade unionists like to point out, the historic labor movement are the folks who brought you the weekend.
It’s true. Look it up. Back in the heyday of the Industrial Age, people used to work stupid hours, 6 days a week. The 40-hour workweek was hard-won. Many people were jailed, beaten, fired, and even killed agitating for better working conditions. Or, in the case of anarchists, for the abolition of wage slavery.
The great anarchist songwriter Joe Hill is one anarchist martyr from this era.
Joe Hill has long has been a folk hero whose memory has been kept alive in song by artists such as Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Morello.
Nevermore Media is pleased to offer a reflection on Joe Hill’s legacy written by Redneck Anarchist Philosopher W.D. James. This comes hot on the heels of his piece about Oliver Anthony, which y’all seem to have really liked.
So, if you like folk music, you’re not going to want to miss this one!
Happy Labor Day, Folks!
Make sure you get out there and enjoy this brief respite from your wage slavery!
Crow Qu’appelle
Labor Day
Not enough people these days know of Joe Hill (born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, 1879-1915). He still stops by the Holler now and then. Hill was a Wobbly organizer and wrote many of the songs in their famous book of tunes, The Big Red Song Book. He was a self-described ‘Catholic Anarchist;’ are there still any of those around?
Unfortunately, Joe got in the way of the Utah copper mine operators, in which the leaders of the Church of Latter-Day Saints leadership were heavily invested. In Utah, that’s bad business. He was judicially murdered on November 19, 1915. Joe refused to provide an alibi to exonerate himself of the murder for which he was framed. He was apparently in the arms of his sweet love, whom he refused to name. Decades later, a letter originally written by said sweetheart in 1949 came to light confirming Joe’s would-have-been alibi. A Wobbly and a Gentleman.
Under Utah law, Joe was executed by firing squad.
To their credit, The Salt Lake Tribune produced a number of renditions of Joe Hill songs for the 100th anniversary of his death. Here are some of them:
And Paul Robeson’s equally immortal, and much covered Joe Hill.
Shortly after Hill’s death, the entire US Justice Department and other agencies of the Federal Government were set upon the I.W.W. With their militant syndicalism and cries for ‘one big union,’ you just couldn’t do business with them as you could with the AFL and the CIO.
Reportedly, Martin Luther wrote hymns to the tunes of beerhall songs so the congregants would already know the tune. Joe wrote many of his union songs to the tunes of popular church and revival hymns for similar reasons; just in the opposite direction.
Happy Labor Day!
Another good song about Joe Hill is Phil Ochs's "The Ballad of Joe Hill".
Here you go...one of many:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpX8Pg_FTH4