Legend of John Henry

Author: S. E. Schlosser

Time Period: 1851 CE–1900 CE

Country or Culture: North America

Genre: Legend

PLOT SUMMARY

The legend of John Henry takes place during the Reconstruction era, the period following the American Civil War, as emancipated African American slaves found work in labor and industry; Henry is assumed to have been a freed slave in real life. In the tale, Henry is a big and brawny man—exaggerated to the height of eight feet—who takes a job driving steel for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. In 1869, when construction of the railroad reaches the formidable Great Bend Mountain near Talcott, West Virginia, it becomes apparent that the only way to reach the other side is to blast through the mile of hard Appalachian mountainside.

On the railroad, Henry’s job is to drill the long holes needed for inserting and lighting dynamite. Using a whopping fourteen-pound sledgehammer, he manually pounds a steel drill into rock by delivering one mighty blow after another for twelve hours a day. Another man, known as a shaker, turns the drill after each blow. The work is exhausting, hot, and sweaty, and the hazardous dust is just one of many factors that make the working conditions deplorable. During the course of the three-year project, hundreds of men die and many are buried in makeshift graves near the tunnel. John Henry’s longevity and perseverance, however, earn him quite a reputation.

One day, a salesman brings a newfangled steam-powered drill that threatens to put Henry and other steel-drivers out of work. Henry rises to the challenge of testing his might against the machine in a one-day competition. Using two twenty-pound hammers, one in each hand, he begins drilling. The other men whoop and cheer him on as the dust and noise overpower the tunnel. By the end of the first thirty-five minutes, he succeeds in drilling two seven-foot holes compared to the meager nine-foot hole drilled by the steam engine. Exhausted, Henry raises his hammers above his head to claim victory but then falls to the ground as a blood vessel bursts in his brain. Although he takes his last breath that day, John Henry lives on in the memory of the men who continue to toil on the railroad. As the verse in the popular ballad states, “you could hear John Henry’s hammer ring” forever.

SIGNIFICANCE

As a folktale as well as a popular musical ballad, the legend of John Henry has permeated American and African American culture. The many versions represent the diverse human creative spirit, as well as the varied nature of oral transmission. This narrative version can be found in the storyteller S. E. Schlosser’s Spooky South: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and other Local Lore (2004). The musical ballad, which begins with John Henry as a baby with a hammer in his hand, born to fulfill his legendary feat, represents one of the most recorded traditional songs in the world, with versions by Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash, Mississippi John Hurt, and many other musicians from the folk, country, blues, and rock genres.

The legend of John Henry can be appreciated from several different perspectives. As a historical narrative, John Henry attests to the period of Reconstruction and westward expansion, when the railroad linked the Carolinas, Virginias, and other eastern states with the frontier and helped bridged the divisiveness between the racially torn north and south. It speaks to the contributions and sacrifices made by African Americans to the growth of the country after emancipation, when racial discrimination continued to set boundaries between laborers and their white bosses. It also attests to the oppressive, often capricious working conditions and the sacrifice of laborers prior to modern government health and safety regulations and the rise of labor unions.

As John Henry came to serve as an icon of the labor movement, his work ethic—a blend of hard work, long hours, and unusual fortitude—also became representative of the American way to success, especially during the industrial era. Despite a shift in modern times toward a more relaxed, balanced approach to work and leisure, Americans still share this story of human success achieved from hard work and physical stamina, especially when challenged by a machine. The theme of man versus machine, common especially in science fiction, confronts the human fears and the challenges of being dominated by technology. Thus, Henry’s victory represents hope for continued control of humanity by humans.

As the cultural equivalent of Paul Bunyan or Johnny Appleseed, Henry is an African American superhero who provides a collective sense of both literary history and cultural pride, while people throughout the world also relate to the upbeat themes in this powerful tale.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hunn, Vanessa Lynn, and Carlton David Craig. “Depression, Sociocultural Factors, and African American Women.” Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development 37. 2 (2009): 83–93. Print.

“John Henry.” Black History Now. Black Heritage Commemorative Soc., 9 June 2011. Web. 1 May 2013.

Laliberte, Richard. “The John Henry Syndrome.” Men’s Health 7.2 (1992): 86–87. Print.

Nelson, Scott Reynolds. Steel Drivin’ Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend. New York: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.

Nikola-Lisa, W. “John Henry: Then and Now.” African American Review 32.1 (1998): 51–57. Print.

Whitehead, Colson. John Henry Days: A Novel. New York: Anchor, 2001. Print.