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By Anonymous. When John Henry was a little tiny baby. Sitting on his mama's knee, He picked up a hammer and a little piece of steel. Saying, "Hammer's going to be the death of me, Lord, Lord, Hammer's going to be the death of me." John Henry was a man just six feet high, Nearly two feet and a half across his breast.
Ezra Jack Keats's John Henry: An American Legend, published in 1965, is a notable picture book chronicling the history of John Henry and portraying him as the "personification of the medieval Everyman who struggles against insurmountable odds and wins."
- 1840s or 1850s
- American folk hero
Mar 7, 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 the machine did but died ‘with his hammer in his hand.’. Writers and artists see in John Henry a symbol of the worker’s foredoomed struggle against the machine.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Popularity of “John Henry”: John Henry is a lyrical ballad known for its unique theme: Man versus Machine. It was first published in the 19 th It is also known as the folklore of an African-American man working on constructing a railroad. The unfortunate man dies while accomplishing a grand task.
A West Virginia Legend. Now John Henry was a mighty man, yes sir. He was born a slave in the 1840’s but was freed after the war. He went to work as a steel-driver for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, don’t ya know. And John Henry was the strongest, the most powerful man working the rails.
Aug 1, 2013 · One of the most colorful characters in American folklore is the legendary John Henry. Whether he was a true historical figure or a fictitious hero carved into the minds of common Americans by oral tradition, his story has given inspiration to generations. Geoff Edgers said in his Analysis of John Henry Music, “John Henry, as ultimate working ...
Dec 9, 2020 · John Henry was a railroad man, / He worked from six 'till five, / "Raise 'em up bullies and let 'em drop down, / I'll beat you to the bottom or die." Johnson believed that this set of lyrics, arranged in 1900, represents the song as it was sung in work camps and on chain gangs as early as the 1870s.