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John Henry
John Henry, hero of a cycle of Negro ballads and tall tales, a “natchal man,” born in the “Black River country, where the sun don't never shine,” who is sometimes a steel driver in the building of the “Yaller Dog” or “Yaller Ball” railroad line for “Mister Billie Bob Russell,” sometimes a roustabout on riverboats. Other figures in the ballads and tales include John Hardy, the gambler; innumerable rivals of John Henry, all named Sam; and the women, Poor Selma, Julie Ann, and Ruby. John Henry's chief exploit is his competition with a steam drill in driving steel, in which he drives faster than the machine, but dies, “with his hammer in his hand,” as a result of the exertion. In some versions, the contest is with a steam winch in loading cotton on a riverboat. The legend seems to have originated c. 1870, when an actual John Henry of such a contest may have existed. The ballads about John Hardy may have arisen from the same source, but their hero differs from John Henry in that he comes to a bad end, murdering a man and dying on the gallows. Roark Bradford's John Henry (1931) combines and reconciles the various tales, while Guy B. Johnson's John Henry: Tracking Down a Negro Legend (1931) is a collection of variants of the ballads.
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Cite this article
James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "John Henry." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "John Henry." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-JohnHenry.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "John Henry." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-JohnHenry.html |
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Henry, John
Henry, John (1738–94), Irish-born American actor who was for many years one of the leading men of the American Company, which he joined in 1767 at the John Street Theatre, New York, under Douglass. On the return of the American Company from the West Indies, where they took refuge during the War of Independence, Henry assumed the management, jointly with the younger Hallam. He accepted and played in The Father; or, American Shandyism (1789), the first of Dunlap's plays to be produced, and was responsible in 1792 for the importation from England of John Hodgkinson. He was twice married, his first wife, an actress, being lost at sea before the company came back from the West Indies. After living for some time with her sister Henry married a younger member of the family.
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Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Henry, John." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Henry, John." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-HenryJohn.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Henry, John." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-HenryJohn.html |
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John Henry
John HenryJohn Henry, a mighty laborer who outperformed a mechanical drill, is a character who first appeared in African American songs and ballads. He can be seen as a symbol of black strength and of African Americans' refusal to be crushed. In more general terms, John Henry also represents the human will and spirit, which a machine may defeat but can never duplicate. The character of John Henry sometimes receives the kind of exaggerated treatment given to other larger-than-life figures such as Paul Bunyan. For example, John Henry is said to have weighed 44 pounds at birth and to have gone looking for work after his first meal. His story is linked to the spread of railroads across the United States as the Industrial Age got into full swing in the years after the American Civil War (1861-1865). John Henry became a "steel-drivin' man," someone who swung a heavy hammer at a steel drill, driving it into rock to make railway tunnels through hills and mountains. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad drove the Big Bend Tunnel through West Virginia's Allegheny Mountains in the early 1870s, and legend places John Henry there. All versions of the story agree that John Henry was the strongest and best hammerer of all, a man who wanted to be buried with his hammer in his hand. Then the railway company found a steam-powered drill that it claimed could work faster and better than even John Henry The "steel-drivin' man" entered a contest with the drill, working until he was exhausted and ready to fall. In the words of one song: The man that invented the steam drill John Henry beat the steam drill in that contest, but the victory was a costly one. He "died with his hammer in his hand," say some accounts, while others claim that he died that night in his bed, worn and broken from the strain of the contest. See also Bunyan, Paul. |
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Cite this article
"John Henry." Myths and Legends of the World. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "John Henry." Myths and Legends of the World. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3490900281.html "John Henry." Myths and Legends of the World. 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3490900281.html |
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John Henry
John Henry legendary African American famous for his strength, celebrated in ballads and tales. In the most popular version of the story, John Henry tries to outwork a steam drill with only his hammer and steel bit. Although he succeeds in beating the machine, he dies of the strain. His legend originated c.1870 among the miners drilling the Big Bend Tunnel of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway in West Virginia and may have some historical basis.
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Cite this article
"John Henry." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "John Henry." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-JohnHenr.html "John Henry." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-JohnHenr.html |
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John Henry
John Henry see John Henry . |
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Cite this article
"John Henry." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "John Henry." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-HenryJon.html "John Henry." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-HenryJon.html |
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