John Henry (folklore)

Statue of John Henry outside the town of Talcott in Summers County, WV

For other uses, see John Henry.

John Henry is an American folk hero, famous for having raced against a steam powered hammer and won, only to die in victory with his hammer in his hand. He has been the subject of numerous songs, stories, plays, and novels.

Like other "Big Men" such as Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill, John Henry also served as a mythical representation of a group within the melting pot of the 19th-century working class. In the most popular version of the story, Henry is born into the world big and strong weighing 33 pounds. He grows to become the greatest "steel-driver" in the mid-century push to erect the railroads across the mountains to the West. When the owner of the railroad buys a steam-powered hammer to do the work of his mostly black driving crew, to save his job and the jobs of his men, John Henry challenges the owner to a contest: himself alone versus the steam hammer. John Henry beats the machine, but exhausted, collapses and dies.

In modern depictions John Henry is often portrayed as hammering down rail spikes, but older versions depict him as being born with a hammer in his hand; driving blasting holes into rock, part of the process of excavating railroad tunnels and cuttings.

In almost all versions of the story, John Henry is a black man and serves as a folk hero for all American working-class people, representing their marginalization during changes entering the modern age in America. While the character may or may not have been based on a real person, Henry became an important symbol of the working class. His story is usually seen as an archetypal illustration of the futility of fighting the technological progress that was evident in the 19th century upset of traditional physical labor roles. Some labor advocates interpret the legend as illustrating that even the most skilled workers of time-honored practices are marginalized when companies are more interested in efficiency and production than in their employees' health and well-being. Although John Henry proved himself more powerful than the steam-drill, he worked himself to death and was replaced by the machine anyway. Thus the legend of John Henry has been a staple of American labor and mythology for well over one hundred years.

John Henry was born with a hammer in his hand. He would crawl around banging his hammer as he went. John Henry did a mans work with his father. Soon he realized he was stronger than most people his age, so he decided it was time he went out into the world. he got a job in the cotton fields, but it was too tame. So he got a job on a river boat. One night the paddle wheel broke and John Henry turned the wheel. He heard men talking of railroads being built, so he started thinking that he wanted a hammer in his hand again, so he joined a railroad crew. John Henry's crew worked the fastest. Soon they came to a mountain and his friend Lil Bill told him about all of the dangers. John Henry said suits me just fine. One day there was a cave-in while a stick of dynamite was lit, and John Henry and his crew were stuck inside. John Henry was going to put it out, but he fell, so he took his hammer and hit the fuse on the head and put out the flame. some days later a steam drill challenged John Henry to a contest to see who could get through the mountain first. After a few hours the steam drill was ahead so John Henry got two hammers and pounding away. Then the steam drill broke down. When John Henry broke through the side of the mountain his heart exploded, and he died with a hammer in each hand.

History

The sign by the C&O railway line

The truth about John Henry as the strongest man alive is obscured by time and myth, but one legend has it that he was a slave born in Missouri in the 1840s and fought his famous battle with the steam hammer along the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in Talcott, West Virginia. A statue and memorial plaque have been placed along a highway south of Talcott as it crosses over the tunnel in which the competition may have taken place.

The railroad historian Roy C. Long found that there were multiple Big Bend Tunnels along the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railway. Also, the C&O employed multiple black men who went by the name "John Henry" at the time that those tunnels were being built. Though he could not find any documentary evidence, he believes on the basis of anecdotal evidence that the contest between man and machine did indeed happen at the Talcott, West Virginia, site because of the presence of all three (a man named John Henry, a tunnel named Big Bend, and a steam-powered drill) at the same time at that place.

The book Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend by Scott Reynolds Nelson, an associate professor of history at the College of William and Mary, argues that John William Henry, a prisoner in Virginia leased by the warden to work on the C&O Railway in the 1870s, is the basis for the legendary John Henry. Nelson points out that a steam drill race at the Big Bend Tunnel would have been impossible because railroad records do not indicate a steam drill ever existing there. Instead, he believes the contest took place at the Lewis Tunnel, between Talcott and Milboro, VA.

Retired chemistry professor and folklorist John Garst has argued that the contest instead happened at the Coosa Mountain Tunnel or the Oak Mountain Tunnel of the Columbus and Western Railway (now part of Norfolk Southern) near Leeds, Alabama on September 20, 1887. Based on documentation that corresponds with the account of C. C. Spencer, who claimed in the 1920s to have witnessed the contest, Garst speculates that John Henry may have been a man named Henry who was born a slave to P.A.L. Dabney, the father of the chief engineer of that railroad, in 1850. The city of Leeds is making plans to honor John Henry's legend with an exhibit in its Bass House historical museum and with a planned annual festival culminating on the third Saturday of September.

Though no documentary proof has emerged to rule out either theory, both Talcott and Leeds use their supposed connections with the legend in promotional and educational literature and events. Every year, on the weekend after the fourth of July, the town of Talcott hosts a celebration known as "John Henry Days." The weekend includes many yard sales, a parade, fireworks, and a rubber ducky race.

In song

Songs featuring the story of John Henry have been sung by many blues, folk, and rock musicians, such as: Lead Belly, Take This Hammer, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Paul Robeson, Mississippi John Hurt, Woody Guthrie, Merle Travis, Pete Seeger, Lonnie Donegan, Big Bill Broonzy, Laura Veirs, Josh White, Odetta, Johnny Cash, John Jackson, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Doc Watson, Fred McDowell, Pink Anderson, John Renbourn, John Fahey, Harry Belafonte, Roberta Flack, Dave Van Ronk, The Gun Club, Little Jimmy Dickens, Bill Wood, John Jacob Niles, Joe Bonamassa, Justin Townes Earle, and Drive-By Truckers.

Bill Monroe, "The Father of Bluegrass Music" and a main influence in Americana music, sings "Nine Pound Hammer", which has become a classic and a favorite in these genres. Several versions have become standards among bluegrass musicians. Specifically, John Henry Brown is the main character in the song "Walk on Boy" recorded by both Doc Watson and the Rice Brothers. Dave Dudley wrote his own variation called "John Henry". Legendary country singer Johnny Cash wrote and performed "The Legend Of John Henry's Hammer". This is one of many requested songs he performed at his concert in Folsom Prison, California in 1968.

Folk singer-songwriter The Supremes recorded a song in 1967 entitled "Treat Me Nice John Henry" which explains a girl's love for John Henry growing and growing and begging for him to be nice to her. Tom T. Hall performed a song called "More About John Henry", which explored John Henry's personal life. More recently, Bruce Springsteen performs "John Henry" with a folk band on his 2006 album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. It was translated into Norwegian as "Jon Henry" in 1973 by Odd Børretzen.

Van Morrison recorded a rock version of the folk song on his 1998 album The Philosopher's Stone. Henry Thomas also recorded a version of the song. Indie rock/Alt-country group Songs: Ohia released the song "John Henry Split My Heart" on their 2003 album Magnolia Electric Co., and fellow alt-country group Drive-By Truckers released the song "The Day John Henry Died" on their 2004 album The Dirty South. The Smothers Brothers have also used the "John Henry" song as part of their folk satire routine. Canadian group Cuff The Duke have a hit song titled "The Ballad of Poor John Henry."

American composer Aaron Copland arranged the traditional "John Henry" for orchestra or chamber orchestra in 1940.

Jerry Lee Lewis recorded the song as well in 1960. "Smokey and the Bandit's" opening theme says, "You've heard about the legend of Jesse James, and John Henry just to mention some names." With the lyrics "...thinking how happy John Henry was that he fell down and died," the singer-songwriter Gillian Welch makes reference to the folk hero in "Elvis Presley Blues" from her 2001 album "Time (The Revelator)". Welch also references the legend in the same album's final track, "I Dream a Highway". Jeffrey Foucault makes reference to several legends and folk heros including John Henry in the song "Secretariat" on the album "Miles From the Lightning".

In 1999, Snakefarm released a folk rock alternative album titled Songs From My Funeral which, on track 6, included a modernized version of "John Henry."

American Blues Rock virtuoso Joe Bonamassa released an album in 2009 entitled "The Ballad Of John Henry". The title track of the record sports lyrics like "Who Killed John Henry... In the battle of sinners and saints" and "Give me the hammer that killed John Henry... 'cause it won't kill me no more." Buck 65 also makes reference to "the hammer that killed John Henry" in the song "Rough House Blues." There is also a southern metal band located in Wichita Falls, Texas called "John Henry vs. The Machine." John McCutcheon sings about John Henry's partner in the song "Greatest Story Never Told [1]".

Steve Earle also refers to John Henry in the song "Steve's Hammer (For Pete)" on his 2007 album "Washington Square Serenade".

Animated shorts

Stop-motion animator George Pal made the 7-minute short "John Henry and the Inky-Poo" in 1946. It was nominated for an Oscar the following year for best short subject/cartoons.

In 1973, Nick Bosustow with David Adams co-produced an eleven minute animated short, The Legend of John Henry for Paramount Pictures. It featured narration by Roberta Flack who also sings a song detailing the legend of John Henry. It was nominated for an oscar in 1974 for best short subject animated films.

In 2000, Walt Disney Feature Animation completed a short subject film based on John Henry, produced at the satellite studio in Orlando, Florida, directed by Mark Henn, written by Shirley Pierce and produced by Steven Keller. Keller, Henn and Pierce worked collaboratively with the Grammy Award winning group "Sounds of Blackness" to create all new songs for the film. The film also featured the voice talent of actress Alfre Woodard. "John Henry" created a strong positive response around the animation community, won several film festivals both domestically and abroad, and was one of seven finalists for the 2001 academy awards in its category. It also stars Tim Hodge, the future Big Idea Productions associate. However aside from film festivals, industry screenings and limited theater screenings required for Academy Award consideration, a slightly cut down version of John Henry was released only as part of a video compilation entitled Disney's American Legends in 2001. This became the nation's top-selling children's video for several weeks upon its release. Disney Educational Productions has also made the film available as a stand-alone product for video use in schools. The film is often shown on the Disney Channel, particularly during Black History Month.

Media references

• Henry is the subject of the 1931 Roark Bradford novel John Henry, illustrated by noted woodcut artist J. J. Lankes. It was adopted into a stage musical in 1940, starring Paul Robeson in the title role.
• In 1996, the U.S. Post Office issued a John Henry 32 cent postage stamp.
• An episode of The Cosby Show features Dr. Cliff Huxtable telling his son Theo and Theo's college roommate the story of John Henry, and also about his own college pranks. Later, when wife Clair tells him that Theo and the roommate have gotten in trouble because they recreated the prank, Cliff tries to deflect blame by saying, "I also told them about John Henry. Did the boys try to drive any steel?"
• The alternative band They Might Be Giants named their 1994 album John Henry, referencing the man vs. machine fable and roughly alluding to the band's switch to more conventional instrumentation, especially the newly established use of a human drummer instead of a drum machine.
• Colson Whitehead's 2001 novel John Henry Days uses the John Henry myth as story background.
• Mark Knopfler's song "Song for Sonny Liston", from the album Shangri-La (2004), compares Sonny Liston's left jab to that of Henry's hammer.
• The legend of John Henry was the inspiration for the third version of the DC Comics superhero Steel -- also known as John Henry Irons.
• John Henry is used in the D.C. Comics mini-series New Frontier, set in the 1950s, as a near folk hero who fights the KKK in Southern America in a variation of John Henry Irons.
• John Henry's visage was used in the 2006 The Transformers: Evolutions comic-book series Hearts of Steel.
• John Henry appeared in an episode of Saul of the Mole Men, where he was depicted as a steampunk cyborg portrayed by Tom Lister, Jr.
• In an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Grim tells Billy and Irwin the story of John Henry, with John Henry as Irwin, and Sperg driving the steam hammer. Grim apparently was betting on the steam engine to win, so he used his scythe to make the machine more powerful. John Henry was said to have tunneled so fast that he broke the laws of physics and was sucked into the 8th dimension.
• In 2007, an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants parodied the tale of John Henry, entitled "SpongeBob vs. the Patty Gadget."
• John Henry is mentioned in the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles in the episode "Strange Things Happen at the One Two Point". The artificial intelligence under development by ZeiraCorp, based on "The Turk", is also given the name John Henry. The name is used metaphorically, as John Henry beat the machine itself, but could not stop progress. In the realm of the Terminator series, "progress" refers to Judgment Day.
• John Henry is referenced in the Cold Case episode "Sabotage".
• The folklore is expanded upon with an investigation into John Henry's death in a 12-page comic strip by Jesse Mesa Toves and Gerimi Burleigh in the Iconic trade paperback by members of the Comicbook Aritsts Guild.
• John Henry Eden is the acting president of the United States in the 2008 game Fallout 3 by Bethesda Softworks.
• The film Gettysburg features a scene in which the 20th Maine regiment find a runaway slave, a big man who is referred to by character Buster Kilrain as a John Henry.
• The young adult novel The Nine Pound Hammer by John Claude Bemis tells the story of John Henry's son, Conker (as created by the book's author), a strong giant who works for a traveling show in the late 19th century American South.

See also

• John Henryism

Further reading

• Johnson, Guy B. (1929) John Henry: Tracking Down a Negro Legend. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press
• Chappell, Louis W. (1933) John Henry; A Folk-Lore Study. Reprinted 1968. Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press
• Keats, Ezra Jack (1965) John Henry, An American Legend. New York: Pantheon Books.
• Williams, Brett (1983) John Henry: A Bio-Bibliography by Brett Williams. Westport, CT.: Greenwood Press
• Nelson, Scott. (Summer 2005) "Who Was John Henry? Railroad Construction, Southern Folklore, and the Birth of Rock and Roll." Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas Vol. 2. No. 2, pp. 53–79.
• Nelson, Scott (2006) Steel Drivin' Man. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195300109
• Garst, John (November 27, 2006) "On the Trail of the Real John Henry". History News Network. (includes rebuttal by Scott Nelson)

External links

• John Henry - The Steel Driving Man Includes a page with the updated abstract of Garst (2002) above.
• John Henry, Present at the Creation
• John Henry Statue at Heritagepreservation.org
• Three Rivers Travel Council - John Henry InformationThe Legend of John Henry Information