Workers of the World, Awaken!: The Life and Legacy of Joe Hill exhibit will open on Saturday June 3 at the Steeple Building Museum in Bishop Hill, Illinois. Joe Hill was an early 20th century Swedish-American labor activist, cartoonist, and songwriter, who coined the phrase “pie in the sky.” He was born in Gävle, Sweden, the same port city that many of the early Bishop Hill Colonists sailed from on their way to America. This traveling display, consisting of 5 text panels and over 25 stand-alone images with music, was created by the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia. As part of the exhibit opening on June 3, there will be a 2 p.m. concert of Joe Hill songs, performed by singer/songwriter Bucky Halker, at the Steeple Building Museum, located at 103 North Bishop Hill Street. This free musical performance is open to the public and sponsored by the Bishop Hill Heritage Association, with financial support from the Swedish Council of America. The exhibit will close on September 30, 2017. For more details about the exhibit or the concert, please call 309 927-3899 or email [email protected] .
Workers of the World, Awaken!: The Life and Legacy of Joe Hill was produced by the American Swedish Historical Museum in partnership with Guest Curator, Alexis Buss. Financial support for this exhibition was gratefully received from the ASHM Auxiliary, Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, George C. and Esther Ann McFarland Foundation, Midsommarklubben, and an anonymous foundation. Support provided in part by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. Funding for the American Swedish Historical Museum is supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
