MTSU will ring with the songs of the early U.S. labor movement at 4:30 this Wednesday afternoon (10/4/2017) in the State Farm Lecture Hall (room BAS S-102) in MTSU's Business and Aerospace Building. Nashville folk artists Michael August and Nell Levin, who perform as the Shelby Bottom Duo, will share music and stories about the Swedish-born labor.

Made familiar in Joan Baez's Woodstock version of the 1936 poem-turned-anthem "I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night," Hill was an activist and songwriter for the Industrial Workers of the World, or "Wobblies," whose protest music inspired Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. His best-known song, "The Preacher and the Slave," introduced the phrase "pie in the sky" into the English vocabulary.

Hill, whose real name was Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, aka Joseph Hillström, was convicted of two murders and executed by a Utah firing squad in 1915. His supporters said the 36-year-old was framed for the crimes because he was a foreigner and a well-known labor activist, and the case drew international attention and appeals for clemency.

In 2015, on the centennial of Hill's death, 40 shows were held around the country to celebrate his life and legacy. The Shelby Bottom Duo organized and performed in the Nashville show, bringing an educational presentation that includes early labor history interspersed with live music and a slide show.