No one will
for bread by crying,
we'll have freedom,
love and health,
when the grand
red flag is flying
in the workers'
commonwealth


-Joe Hill 1879-1915

Joe Emmanuel Haaglund joined the flow of Swedish immigrants to the United States at the age of nineteen. He joined the industrial Workers of the World and became an organizer. His humorous fighting songs helped turn the IWW into a singing movement. While organizing in Utah he was accused of a fatal grocery store robbery and convicted. Despite an international outcry Joe Hill was executed November 19, 1915. He left a legacy of songs that are still sung in struggles for justice.