Joe Hill Lives!

One hundred years have passed since a firing squad at the Utah State Penitentiary executed Joe Hill at sunrise on Nov. 19, 1915, but the legendary union organizer’s memory and legacy are still very much alive. Joe Uehlein and the U-Liners will pay tribute to the labor martyr and folk hero tonight at 7p at the Takoma Park Busboys and Poets. “I grew up with Joe Hill’s songs and his linkage of labor organizing and music was just a natural,” says Uehlein (hear him talk – and sing -- about Hill recently on WPFW’s [email protected] Labor Edition). The DC Labor FilmFest has also put together a playlist on its YouTube Channel with an inspiring collection of performances of songs by and about Joe Hill, sung by everyone from Bruce Springsteen, Paul Robeson, Joan Baez and Phil Ochs to a whole new generation of singers who are carrying Hill's torch forward. There are also still tickets available to next Monday night’s“Joe Hill’s Last Will,” a one-man musical play written by Si Kahn, starring John McCutcheon as Joe Hill, 7:30p at St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Rockville.

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