John Henry (folklore)

"The Ballad of John Henry" redirects here. For the album by Joe Bonamassa, see The Ballad of John Henry (album).

John Henry
John Henry illustration by Roy E. LaGrone (1942)
Born1840s or 1850s
OccupationRailroad worker
Known forAmerican folk hero

John Henry is an American folk hero. A Black American freedman, he is said to have worked as a "steel-driving man"—a man tasked with hammering a steel drill into a rock to make holes for explosives to blast the rock in constructing a railroad tunnel.

The story of John Henry is told in a classic blues folk song about his duel against a drilling machine, which exists in many versions, and has been the subject of numerous stories, plays, books, and novels.

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