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During the first years of the 20th century, Joe Hill moved like a phantom 'Johnny Laborseed' through the far-flung corners of the United States, everywhere planting working class solidarity through his songs, speeches-and even his death-to foster the growth of a burgeoning labor movement.
At one point in the early 20th century, 49 of the 50 United States had in their possession some of the ashes of one man. Inside envelopes sent to union halls around the country were the remains of Joe Hillstrom, popularly known as Joe Hill, a drifter, songwriter and, for some members of the organized labor movement, a martyr. His story is not as well known as it once was, but his ghost still walked the land vividly enough in 1925 that Alfred Hayes was able to compose a poem commemorating it:
From San Diego up to Maine
In every mine and mill,
Where workers strike and organize,
Says he, "You'll find Joe Hill."
Hill's life had all the elements of classic American myth: back roads wandering, music, ideals and confrontations with the law. It also proves the point that for individuals to become legends, the way they die is just as important as the way they live.
Joe Hill stepped onto Ellis Island in October 1902. Born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund in Gävle, Sweden, in 1879, he sailed with his brother to America after the deaths of their parents-their father, a railway conductor, died from injuries suffered in a workplace accident, and their mother died 15 years later from illness. Far from finding the sidewalks paved with gold, Hill had to take whatever odd job he could find just to survive, at one point even cleaning bar spittoons in the roughest parts of New York City for a few pennies a day. Tired of city life, he abandoned the slums and hit the road, armed only with the English he had learned at the Gavle YMCA and on the streets of New York.
The labor pool he entered-before organized unions had any influence-was a turbulent one. Just finding a job was in itself an enormous task. "Employment sharks" would sell supposed job opportunities to unemployed men, who would then travel great distances only to find that the job did not...