Joe Hill Executed At sunrise on November 19, 1915 Joe Hill was shot to death by a firing squad in the yard of the Utah State Prison in Salt Lake City. His body was taken to Chicago, where more than thirty thousand people turned out for a symbolic funeral. It was symbolic in that I.W.W. leader Big Bill Haywood would honor a last request from Hill that his body be cremated and his ashes scattered in every state-- with the exception of Utah. In this telegram, the Swedish Ambassador to the United States, W.A.F. Ekengren, reports to his government in Stockholm that his efforts to save the life of countryman Joseph Hillstrom have failed. (Courtesy: Library of Congress) Read this historical document's full text                   About the Program || Joe Hill Home || PBS Home