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John Henry is an American folk hero. An African American freedman, he is said to have worked as a "steel-driving man"—a man tasked with hammering a steel drill into a rock to make holes for explosives to blast the rock in constructing a railroad tunnel.
May 13, 2024 · John Henry, hero of a widely sung African American folk ballad. It describes his contest with a steam drill, in which John Henry crushed more rock than did the machine but died “with his hammer in his hand.”
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Learn about the life and legacy of John Henry, a former prisoner who worked on the C&O Railroad and inspired a famous song. Historian Scott Nelson reveals how John Henry became a symbol of resistance and protest against machines and oppression.
Sep 28, 2013 · This ballad tells the story of John Henry, an American folk hero. According to legend, he was the strongest and fastest railroad workers in his day during the post-Civil War era.
- 3 min
- 879.1K
- SingAnAmericanStory
Dec 9, 2020 · Learn about the origin, history, and significance of the folk song and story of John Henry, a Black railroad worker who died trying to out-drill a machine. Discover how this legend inspired many artists and became a symbol of the Civil Rights Movement.
John Henry was a legendary African American railroad worker who competed with a steam-powered drill and died of exhaustion. Learn about his possible identity, the tunnels he worked on, and his symbolism in American culture and civil rights.
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John Henry was known as the strongest, the fastest, and the most powerful man working on the railroad. He went up against the steam drill to prove that the black worker could drill a hole through the rock farther and faster than the drill could.
