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John Henry (folklore)
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John Henry is an American folk hero, famous for having raced against a steam powered hammer and won, only to die in victory. 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.
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John Henry is an American folk hero, famous for having raced against a steam powered hammer and won, only to die in victory. 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 employee's health and well-being. Although John Henry proved himself more efficient 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.
History
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 don't 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.
Retellings
In song
Songs featuring the story of John Henry have been sung by many blues, folk, and rock musicians, such as: Leadbelly, Take This Hammer, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Paul Robeson, Mississippi John Hurt, Woody Guthrie, Merle Travis, Pete Seeger, Wookiefoot, Big Bill Broonzy, Laura Veirs, Josh White, Odetta, Johnny Cash, 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, Tangle Eye, Justin Townes Earle and the Drive-By Truckers.
did a John Henry song called "This Old Hammer". 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.
Northern Ireland band 'The Helfire Club' referenced the plight of John Henry in their song "Dead Man's Funk." The Shane Daniel album Yours Truly contains a song called "The Spirit of John Henry." Daniel said this song was about the name John Henry not being used in modern songs. 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. During the 1990s, Atlanta based band 'Burnin' Pork Truck' included "John Henry" in every performance. Most 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", while New York art-metal collective The Book of Knots just released a song titled just "The Ballad of John Henry" on their new album, 'Traineater.'
American composer Aaron Copland arranged the traditional "John Henry" for orchestra or chamber orchestra in 1940, a composition that appears on the soundtrack for the Spike Lee film He Got Game (1998), among other recordings.
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 lyrics "...thinking how happy John Henry was that he fell down and died," Gillian Welch, makes reference in album "Time (The Revelator)" song Elvis Presly Blues.
Jeffrey Foucault makes reference to several legends and folk heros including John Henry in the song "Secretariat" on the album "Miles From the Lightning".
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."
Finally, a British folk-punk band, The Cropdusters, from Hampshire, also recorded a song called "John Henry" in the 1980s. 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 ".
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, Disney was uneasy about releasing a short about a black folk hero created by an almost completely white production team, and 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.
- 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'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.
- 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.
See also
Other Big Men
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) "". History News Network. (includes rebuttal by Scott Nelson)
External links
- Includes a page with the updated abstract of Garst (2002) above.
- The Legend of John Henry Information
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