Joe Hill is a folk hero. He represents the values of many working people. Joe Hillstrom (I've forgotten his Swedish name) was executed by a Utah firing squad for a crime he didn't commit. He was a political prisoner.

I remember his history since my father protested his execution in 1915 while standing with a throng in Union Square in New York City. (Later, I stood in that same area pretty much in the 50's to protest the execution by Eisenhower of the Rosenburgs.)

Joe's songs will live on as historical documents. Although mention of him is not in the contemporary history textbooks which are bowdlerized by Texas Orwellian rewriters,
he will be remembered in song and story long after these textbooks are revised and
debunked.