Yes, that is the question. You will be reading and hearing a lot 
about Joe Hill in the coming couple of months. But just who was he? Was he a composer, a labor union activist, a singer, a murderer, a martyr?
Those are questions that John McCutcheon will answer for us on June 12th. The facts are many but the legend is strong. In the play “Joe Hill’s Last Will” John McCutcheon will live out for us the last night in Swedish immigrant Joe Hill’s life before his execution by firing squad in the Utah State Prison on November 19, 1915.
It is true that Joe Hill organized workers for the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World). Labor and management strife in the mines of Idaho, Colorado and Utah led to the deaths of many people in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Not only did Joe Hill work for the IWW, he penned cartoons, wrote songs for the IWW and sang them as well. John McCutcheon will sing them all during the one-man play depicting Joe Hill’s last night. Among the songs is Joe Hill’s Last Will, “My will is easy to decide, For there is nothing to divide….Good Luck to All of you, Joe Hill.”
Joe Hill chose not to speak at his trial and denied any involvement in the double murder of which he was accused. The victims’ son and a brother did not identify Joe Hill as the murderer at first but then later changed their story. Many say that Joe Hill was convicted of a crime he did not commit. President Wilson, Helen Keller, and the Swedish Ambassador all pleaded for clemency for Joe after the Utah Supreme Court denied Joe’s appeal.
Si Kahn wrote the play and John McCutcheon performs it on June 12, 2015, here at St. James’. You will hear John tell the story and perform Joe Hill’s songs on that Friday at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $27 for adults, $15 for children (five and under for free).
Read more and order tickets here.