HILL, JOE


Meaning of HILL, JOE in English

orig. Joel Emmanuel Hägglund

born Oct. 7, 1879, Gävle, Swed.

died Nov. 19, 1915, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.

Swedish-U.S. songwriter and organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) .

Hill immigrated to the U.S. с 1902 and joined the IWW in 1910. His songs of protest and solidarity

including "The Preacher and the Slave," in which he coined the phrase pie in the sky to mock the "reward" awaiting the meek in the next world

became widely popular. In 1914 he was arrested in Salt Lake City and charged with the murder of a grocer and his son during a robbery. Convicted on circumstantial evidence despite mass demonstrations on his behalf, Hill was executed by a firing squad. His death made him a martyr in the eyes of the radical U.S. labour movement.

Britannica English dictionary.      Английский словарь Британика.