Post by ShivaTD on Oct 4, 2013 11:50:40 GMT
Starting around the end of the 19th Century in America is the origin of the "workers" or "labor song" folk music that protested child labor and exploitation of the workers, often immigrants, that were little more than slaves of the wealthy capitalists.
Earliest among these is Joe Hill that not only wrote many of the early "union" songs but that has also been immortalized by folk singers since. Just the story about Joe Hill is fascinating.
In 1915 Joe Hill was executed for a murder based upon dubious testimony and for which recent evidence seems to establish he didn't commit. Hill had a gunshot wound the night that the murder occurred but refused to disclose who had shot him or the reason at his trial. There was a general assumption at the time that anyone that belonged to the IWW was probably guilty of the crime.
A very interesting story with a key Supreme Court decision with a very dubious legal foundation. The statement by Chief Justice Daniel Straup in turning down Hill's appeal that Joe Hill had an obligation to disclose the origins of his wound was literally imposing a requirement that Hill testify in his own defense to "prove" his innocence where, under our Constitution and our laws, the burden of proof rests with the prosecution and not the defense. To imply that a defendant must "establish their innocence" goes against all US legal precedent.
So it's a very interesting story and now time for a couple of Joe Hill's songs.
Joe Hill has become iconic of the labor movement in America, considered a martyr of "labor" by many, and was immortalized by this song.
Earliest among these is Joe Hill that not only wrote many of the early "union" songs but that has also been immortalized by folk singers since. Just the story about Joe Hill is fascinating.
Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund in Gävle, Sweden, and also known as Joseph Hillström (October 7, 1879[1] – November 19, 1915) was a Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
In 1915 Joe Hill was executed for a murder based upon dubious testimony and for which recent evidence seems to establish he didn't commit. Hill had a gunshot wound the night that the murder occurred but refused to disclose who had shot him or the reason at his trial. There was a general assumption at the time that anyone that belonged to the IWW was probably guilty of the crime.
On January 10, 1914, John G. Morrison and his son Arling were killed in their Salt Lake City grocery store by two armed intruders masked in red bandanas. The police first thought it was a crime of revenge, for nothing had been stolen and the elder Morrison had been a police officer, possibly creating many enemies. On the same evening, Joe Hill appeared on the doorstep of a local doctor, with a bullet wound through the left lung. Hill said that he had been shot in an argument over a woman, whom he refused to name. The doctor reported that Hill was armed with a pistol. Considering Morrison's past as a police officer, several men he had arrested were at first considered suspects; 12 people were arrested in the case before Hill was arrested and charged with the murder. A red bandana was found in Hill's room. The pistol purported to be in Hill's possession at the doctor's office was not found. Hill resolutely denied that he was involved in the robbery and killing of Morrison. He said that when he was shot, his hands were over his head, and the bullet hole in his coat — four inches below the exit wound in his back — seemed to support this claim. Hill did not testify at his trial, but his lawyers pointed out that four other people were treated for bullet wounds in Salt Lake City that same night, and that the lack of robbery and Hill's unfamiliarity with Morrison left him with no motive.[8]
The prosecution, for its part, produced a dozen eyewitnesses who said that the killer resembled Hill, including 13-year-old Merlin Morrison, the victims' son and brother, who said "That's not him at all" upon first seeing Hill, but later identified him as the murderer. The jury took just a few hours to find him guilty of murder.[8]
An appeal to the Utah Supreme Court was unsuccessful. Orrin N. Hilton, the lawyer representing Hill during the appeal, declared: "The main thing the state had on Hill was that he was an IWW and therefore sure to be guilty. Hill tried to keep the IWW out of [the trial]... but the press fastened it upon him."[8]
In a letter to the court, Hill continued to deny that the state had a right to inquire into the origins of his wound, leaving little doubt that the judges would affirm the conviction. Chief Justice Daniel Straup wrote that his unexplained wound was "a distinguishing mark," and that "the defendant may not avoid the natural and reasonable inferences of remaining silent."[9]
Joe Hill's love relationship, though frequently speculated upon, remained mostly conjecture for nearly a century. William M. Adler's 2011 biography reveals new information about Hill's ostensible alibi, which was never introduced at his trial.[6] According to the biography, Joe Hill and his friend and fellow countryman, Otto Appelquist, were rivals for the attention of twenty-year-old Hilda Erickson, a member of the family with whom the two men were lodging. In a recently discovered letter, Erickson confirmed her relationship with the two men, and the rivalry between them. The letter indicates that when she first discovered Hill was injured, he explained to her that Appelquist had shot him, apparently due to jealousy.[7]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill
The prosecution, for its part, produced a dozen eyewitnesses who said that the killer resembled Hill, including 13-year-old Merlin Morrison, the victims' son and brother, who said "That's not him at all" upon first seeing Hill, but later identified him as the murderer. The jury took just a few hours to find him guilty of murder.[8]
An appeal to the Utah Supreme Court was unsuccessful. Orrin N. Hilton, the lawyer representing Hill during the appeal, declared: "The main thing the state had on Hill was that he was an IWW and therefore sure to be guilty. Hill tried to keep the IWW out of [the trial]... but the press fastened it upon him."[8]
In a letter to the court, Hill continued to deny that the state had a right to inquire into the origins of his wound, leaving little doubt that the judges would affirm the conviction. Chief Justice Daniel Straup wrote that his unexplained wound was "a distinguishing mark," and that "the defendant may not avoid the natural and reasonable inferences of remaining silent."[9]
Joe Hill's love relationship, though frequently speculated upon, remained mostly conjecture for nearly a century. William M. Adler's 2011 biography reveals new information about Hill's ostensible alibi, which was never introduced at his trial.[6] According to the biography, Joe Hill and his friend and fellow countryman, Otto Appelquist, were rivals for the attention of twenty-year-old Hilda Erickson, a member of the family with whom the two men were lodging. In a recently discovered letter, Erickson confirmed her relationship with the two men, and the rivalry between them. The letter indicates that when she first discovered Hill was injured, he explained to her that Appelquist had shot him, apparently due to jealousy.[7]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill
A very interesting story with a key Supreme Court decision with a very dubious legal foundation. The statement by Chief Justice Daniel Straup in turning down Hill's appeal that Joe Hill had an obligation to disclose the origins of his wound was literally imposing a requirement that Hill testify in his own defense to "prove" his innocence where, under our Constitution and our laws, the burden of proof rests with the prosecution and not the defense. To imply that a defendant must "establish their innocence" goes against all US legal precedent.
So it's a very interesting story and now time for a couple of Joe Hill's songs.
Joe Hill has become iconic of the labor movement in America, considered a martyr of "labor" by many, and was immortalized by this song.
