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At the end of 35 minutes, John Henry had drilled two seven foot holes – a total of fourteen feet, while the steam drill had only drilled one nine-foot hole. John Henry held up his hammers in triumph!
This tall tale tells about the unforgettable deeds of a larger than life railroad worker | AMERICAN STORIES
In 1995, John Henry was portrayed in the movie Tall Tale by Roger Aaron Brown. A former slave, John Henry appears to a runaway farmer's son named Daniel to both protect him from ruffians (alongside fellow folk hero figures Daniel's father told his son about, Pecos Bill and Paul Bunyan ) and impart life lesson wisdom to him.
- 1840s or 1850s
- American folk hero
Time Period. 1877 to 1924. Media Type. Video. Topics. Black History. Presenter. Scott Reynolds Nelson. According to the ballad that made him famous, John Henry did battle with a steam-powered drill, beat the machine, and died.
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.”.
From what we know, John Henry was born a slave in the 1840s or 1850s in North Carolina or Virginia. He grew to stand 6 feet tall, 200 pounds - a giant in that day. He had an immense appetite, and an even greater capacity for work. He carried a beautiful baritone voice, and was a favorite banjo player to all who knew him.
