Search results
People also ask
Is John Henry a real person?
What is the story of John Henry?
Who is John Henry?
Was John Henry a folk hero?
An amazing story of the human spirit and work ethic, yes, but was John Henry a real person? Most historians agree that he was, as thousands of African-Americans worked on the railroad, with hundreds perishing during the drilling of the Great Bend Tunnel .
Folklorists have long thought John Henry to be mythical, but historian Scott Nelson has discovered that he was a real person—a nineteen-year-old from New Jersey who was convicted of theft in a Virginia court in 1866, sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary, and put to work building the C&O Railroad.
The historical accuracy of many of the aspects of the John Henry legend are subject to debate. [1] [2] According to researcher Scott Reynolds Nelson, the actual John Henry was born in 1848 in New Jersey and died of silicosis and not due to exhaustion of work.
- 1840s or 1850s
- American folk hero
John Garst would like to believe that John Henry is from his town in Alabama, as would the Alabama Folklife Association, but there is simply no coherent evidence to prove it.
- John Garst
Mar 7, 2024 · Last Updated: Mar 7, 2024 • Article History. John Henry. Statue of John Henry, near Talcott, West Virginia. 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
Feb 28, 2006 · 2-28-06. John Henry real? Truth or tall tale, the John Henry story has been told for more than a hundred years. Many historians believe it is based, in part, on a real person and event...
Oct 18, 2006 · Mr. Nelson ransacked state archives and came up with the name of a prisoner: John William Henry. The historical record is sketchy, but most of the verifiable facts about Mr. Nelson’s John...
