Voting Station

Joe Hill

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Advocate

The Resume

    (October 7, 1879-November 19, 1915)
    Birth name was Joel Emmanuel Hagglund
    Member of the Industrial Workers of the World
    Wrote the songs ‘The Preacher and the Slave,' ‘There Is Power in a Union,' ‘Casey Jones – Union Scab' and ‘Rebel Girl'
    Executed by the state of Utah for murder

Why he might be annoying:

    On January 10, 1914, former policeman John G. Morrison and his son Arling were killed by two masked gunmen. During the incident, Arling shot and wounded one of the assailants.
    That same night, Hill showed up at a local doctor's office with a bullet wound, saying he had been wounded in an argument over another man's wife.
    During his trial, he refused to testify about the circumstances of his shooting.
    Utah's governor refused to offer clemency unless Hill satisfactorily explained how he had been wounded.

Why he might not be annoying:

    The prosecution never provided a motive, a witness who could positively identify Hill, or a spent bullet at the crime scene capable of passing through a body, even though the bullet that wounded Hill had done so.
    Woodrow Wilson, Helen Keller, Samuel Gompers and the government of Sweden petitioned the state for clemency.
    Asked to choose his method of execution, he picked the firing squad, saying, ‘I've been shot a few times in the past and I guess I can stand it again.'
    Before his execution, he sent the message, ‘Don't waste any time in mourning. Organize!'
    He inspired the folk ballad, ‘I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 24 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 39 Votes: 12.82% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 53 Votes: 52.83% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 22 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 21 Votes: 52.38% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 37 Votes: 56.76% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 38 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 25 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 73 Votes: 54.79% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 18 Votes: 61.11% Annoying