The Legend of John Henry

 

Episode of the old-time radio series "Destination Freedom". Story:The Legend of John Henry Usage: Public Domain ...

John Henry (Folklore)

 

The the Legend of John Henry. an American folk hero. An African 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. 

 According to researcher Scott Reynolds Nelson, there was an actual John Henry who was borb in 1848 in New Jersey and died of silicosis and not due to exhaustion of work. Several locations have been put forth for tunnel on which John Henry died, .. 

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