Joe Hill Organizing Committee records, 1914-1991

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Joe Hill Organizing Committee
Title
Joe Hill Organizing Committee records
Dates
1914-1991 (inclusive)
Quantity
4 linear feet, (3 boxes and 1 oversize folder)
Collection Number
ACCN 1243
Summary
The Joe Hill Organizing Committee records (1914-1991) contain book reviews, committee lists, correspondence, flyers, news clippings, newsletters, petitions, play reviews, posters, reservation permits, songbooks, stamps, and tax forms. Some documents are copies from the trial and execution of Joe Hill in Utah in 1915. The Organizing Committee was formed in 1989 to commemorate Joe Hill who was a popular songwriter for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Repository
University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860

Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu
Access Restrictions

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Languages
English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Joseph Hagglund (1879-1915), also known as Joseph Hillstrom and later still, Joe Hill, was born in Sweden. He immigrated to New York's East side in 1902 and saw the terrible conditions faced by many of the workers. Hill joined the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in 1910. He was well known for his many workers' songs like "Rebel Girl," "The Preacher and the Slave," and "Casey Jones," all of which became popular and widely sung at strikes and rallies. In 1913 Hill moved to Utah to work in the Park City mines and became associtated with the Sweedish Community in Murray. Things took a downturn for Hill, in 1914, when he went to a doctor in Murray to be treated for a gunshot wound. That same evening in Salt Lake City, there had been a murder of a store owner, and the assailant had been shot. The doctor informed police, and Hill was arrested for the murder. In what became an internationally watched trial, Joe Hill was found guilty of the murder on circumstantial evidence and sentanced to death. The IWW was viewed with suspicion by many Utahns and many saw Hill's execution sentance as a business-led campaign to get rid of him. A massive movement to get a pardon for Hill began. President Woodrow Wilson asked for a stay of execution, but the stay ran out and Joe Hill died by firing squad on 19 November 1915. His ashes were given to workers in every state, except Utah. Hill remains one of the IWW's better known members. In 1989, Salt Lake City attorney Brian Barnard sought to find out whether there would be a 75th anniversary commemoration of Joe Hill. Upon finding no official commemoration, Barnard organized the Joe Hill Organizing Committee, which arranged several events including a concert at Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake City.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Joe Hill Organizing Committee records (1914-1991) contain book reviews, committee lists, correspondence, flyers, news clippings, newsletters, petitions, play reviews, posters, reservation permits, songbooks, stamps, and tax forms. Most of the items are by the organizing committee while some are copies from the trial and execution of Joe Hill.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Preferred Citation

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Gift of John Sillito in 1990.

Separated Materials

Photographs transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (P0445).

Processing Note

Processed by Luke Kelly in 2000.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Organizing CommitteeReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
1 1-2
General Correspondence
1989-1991
1 3
Internal Memos and Correspondence
1989-1990
1 4
Proposal for Joe Hill Committee and Member Lists
1989-1990
1 5
Meeting Minutes
1989-1990
1 6
Budgets
1989
1 7
Tax Exempt Status Forms
1989-1991
1 8
Donations
1989-1990
1 9
Insurance Policy for Sugarhouse Park
1990
1 10
Joe Glazer, Correspondence and Compiled Program
1990
1 11
Phone Directories of Unions
1990
1 12
Reservation Permit for Sugarhouse Park
1990
1 13
Headstone for IWW Worker
1991
1 14
Notes and Miscellaneous Papers

Commemorative Events and PublicityReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
2 1
Exhibit and KUED Documentary
1989
2 2
Slide Show Script
1989
2 3
Earl Robinson and Peter Seeger Concert Correspondence
1989-1990
2 4
Candlelight Vigil, Correspondence and Flyer
1989-1991
2 5
Media Packet for Candlelight Vigil
1990
2 6
Monument Proposal
1990-1991
2 7
Academic Conference
1990
2 8
Essay Contest
1990
2 9
Film Festival
1990
2 10
Swedish Stamp and Poster Commemorating Joe Hill
1990
2 11
Memorabilia
1990
2 12
IWW Commemorative Songbook
2 13
Posthumous Pardon Attempt
1990
2 14
Press Releases
1990
2 15
Mainstream Article
1990
2 16
News Clippings
1989-1990
2 17
IWW Newspaper Clippings
1970-1990
2 18
Labor Societies' Newsletters
1990
2 19
Postal Workers Union Newsletters
1989
2 20
Book Reviews
1970-1990

Copies of Documents from the Trial of Joe Hill and AfterReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
3 1
Letters to Utah Governor Spry
1914-1916
3 2
Correspondence, Joe Hill
1915
3 3
Petitions and Editorials
1915
3 4
State Versus Joseph Hillstrom (Joe Hill), Court Report
1915
3 5
"The Life Preserver"
1915
3 6
News Article
1915
3 7
Intermountain Protective Service Reports
Intermountain Protective Service was hired on to protect Governor Spry after receiving death threats in connection with the Joe Hill trial.
1915-1916
3 8
Joe Hill Documents in Original Order
1970
3 9
Don't Mourn For Me- Organize!
3 10
Posthumous Pardon Attempt
1970
3 11
Joe Hill Festivals
1970
3 12
Accidental Play Review
1990
3 13
Joe Hill, Poet and Agitator
1990

OversizeReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
map-case-folder
1
Broadside
1990

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Labor movement--West (U.S.)--Congresses--Records and correspondence

Personal Names

  • Hill, Joe, 1879-1915 --Congresses

Corporate Names

  • Industrial Workers of the World

Form or Genre Terms

  • Articles
  • Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
  • Correspondence
  • Financial records
  • Minutes (Records)
  • Pamphlets
  • Press releases