![]() He was leased in 1868 to work on the construction of the C & O railroad, 1868-72, at Lewis Tunnel, where he raced a steam drill and died. In the Virginia story, the legendary steel driver was John William Henry, a convict at the old Virginia Penitentiary, Richmond. Virginia and Alabama must duke it out over the historicity of "America's greatest single piece of folklore" (John A. In my opinion, West Virginia and Jamaica are no longer serious contenders. In this decade Scott Nelson has asserted death occurred in Virginia. MacEdward Leach writing some thirty years later said Jamaica. He died in at least ten states and Jamaica! Received wisdom, from Johnson and Chappell, says he passed away in West Virginia. Testimony and ballad versions vary wildly and are rife with contradictions. Nothing in this mass of data can be assumed to be reliable. Is any of this true? If so, or if the legend sprang from some other event involving a real person, who and where was he?īy 1933 Guy Johnson, Louis Chappell, and a few others had obtained over sixty versions of "John Henry" and a great deal of personal testimony. "He drove so hard that he broke his heart / He laid down his hammer and he died." "John Henry made fourteen feet / While the steam drill only made nine." Then he died. John Henry said, "Before I'll let that steam drill beat me down / I'll die with my hammer in my hand." With human skill, muscle, endurance, and determination, he drilled faster than a new-fangled, steam-powered machine. In tunnel boring the rock was blasted away by explosives packed into drilled holes. John Henry was a steel driver, a man who used a sledge hammer to pound steel drills to make holes in rock. Why is so much made of a poor black laborer? Because his mighty effort represents the best of the human spirit. He obviously inspired the creation of Steel, aka John Henry Irons, one of Superman's comic-book successors. He is celebrated in novels, poems, cartoons, comics, paintings, sculptures, movies, etc., and he is reinvented. John Henry is a hero to everyone, especially African Americans and labor-union members. Aaron Copeland used the melody in his composition, "John Henry," for symphony orchestra. Collections and recordings number in the many hundreds. To folklorists it is a "ballad," a story told in song. Convicted and fined $21.50, he "put the court on notice that it was a piece of malice on the part of the neighbors and not their objection to 'John Henry' that caused his arrest."īill was right. He recited that stanza and said you sing it again if you want a longer song. He had drunkenly "shouted and sung bad songs." Bill admitted to one song, an inoffensive stanza of "John Henry" he had known since childhood. She’s recounting this whole story to their young son, to explain why his father was so great.According to an old newspaper account (it was in the Atlanta Constitution) granite cutter Bill Hendricks appeared in court on September 1, 1913, to face charges of disturbing the neighborhood. After a heroic effort, including a tunnel through solid rock by swinging two hammers at once, John wins, but he also collapses in his wife Polly’s arms. John proposes a challenge: man against machine. But despair sets in again when the railroad sends a steam hammer to replace the crew and burns the contract. John, though, has the strength of ten men, and revitalizes all of them. An entire crew of freed slaves has been promised land if they can finish by deadline, but they’re exhausted and unable to continue. ![]() “John Henry, a freed slave, happens across a railroad building project. John Henry was later released on Blu-ray in Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection on Augand is the perfect story to explain hard work and pride in one’s work to children. The film’s new short is based on John Henry and stars Alfre Woodard and Tim Hodge. The story of John Henry was released in 2002 as direct-to-video animated anthology film hosted by James Earl Jones on the Disney’s American Legends DVD. He is put to the ultimate test when he faces a mechanical power hammer that threatens to take away his land. Wielding a sledge hammer forged from the chains that bound him in servitude, he was a one-man railroad crew who ‘could move mountains’. John Henry was a former slave who’s mighty strength made him one of the earliest African-American role models.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |