Ain't Nothing But A Man

Was John Henry "Real" or "No Real"?

Most Americans of my generation and older are acquainted with the legend of John Henry -- that steel drivin' man who pitted human strength against a steam drill and won. He dropped dead, though, after his victory, so the songs and story goes.

I remember him, based on paintings or drawings in folklore and history books, as this massive, black man; heavy hammer raised high, ready to strike a spike into the railroad tracks. His claim was that he could do it faster and better than this new invention, the steam-powered drill. The classic story of Man against Machine.

John Henry told the Captain:

"A Man Ain't Nothing But A Man.
Before I Let Your Steam Drill Beat Me Down.
I'll Die With A Hammer In My Hand."

All legends, we are told, are based on some truth. I thought there might be some truth to the story but that it probably got embellished as it passed from people to people, region to region.

And, then, just recently at my local library, I came across a book on display, Ain't Nothing But A Man. My Quest To Find The Real John Henry (National Geographic, 2008). It was in the children's section and I thought it would be a good book for my younger daughters. However, after reading it, I see it might be more suited for middle schoolers and above. Written by Scott Reynolds Nelson, a professor of history at Williams & Mary College in Williamsburg, VA., the book is a detective-like account of how the author searched for, compiled, and analyzed material and stories that led him to the "Real John Henry."

Yes, there was a real John Henry. In fact, Nelson wrote an adult book of his search, Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry: The Untold Story of an American Legend that won an award for being one of the best history books of 2006.

More than 40,000 African-American men built and repaired the train tracks that wind throughout the South. We see them in old photographs taken in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries. I often wonder as I look at the photographs what life was really like for them.

Some of their stories come to us through their songs. As the hammer teams lined up track, hammered them in place and blasted through tunnels, they sang songs to keep in rhythm with the work. There are hundreds of versions of songs about John Henry, and as Nelson points out, some of them contain specific information. (Listen to a Smithsonian Field Recording of John Henry, 1947-48).

Studying the various versions of these songs, culling through old ledgers and engineering reports, exploring old railroad tunnels, finding a clue in an old post card and the uncovering by a contractor in the 1990s of 300 bodies buried in the sands of an old penitentiary led Nelson to Virginia where the "real" John Henry was laid to rest.

It's a fascinating and chilling story to read because Nelson uncovers information about the most likely cause of John Henry’s death and the message hidden in the legendary songs to other steel drivin’ men.

Incidentally, the lore of the legend of John Henry was so big in African-American communities that many boys were named after him. The name of my father’s oldest brother? None other than John Henry Martin.