On a special Halloween episode of the America’s Work Force Union Podcast, Professor Scott Nelson of the University of Georgia joined the podcast to dig into the true and chilling story behind the legend of John Henry. Known to many as a folk hero who beat a steam drill with sheer muscle, John Henry’s real story, as uncovered by Nelson, reveals a darker chapter of American labor history that’s both enlightening and sobering.
Nelson began by discussing the well-known “John Henry” song — a classic that’s found its way into almost every American musical genre, from blues to bluegrass. Bruce Springsteen, Lead Belly and countless artists have put their mark on its somber tale: Henry, the steel-driving man, races a steam drill, wins, asks for water and collapses. What most people don’t realize, as Nelson discovered, is that John Henry was a real person — a young Black man from New Jersey who, after a questionable shoplifting conviction was repeatedly upgraded, found himself in a Virginia prison gang. Nelson explained that it wasn’t solely back-breaking labor that killed John Henry and those alongside him, but acute silicosis — a deadly lung disease caused by inhaling rock dust from tunnel blasting. By the tunnel’s completion in 1870, nearly all of the men working with Henry died, highlighting the brutal and often invisible dangers workers faced, Nelson said.
The legend of John Henry took decades to spread, only being picked up and preserved by folklorists in the early 20th century, Nelson noted. Its endurance owes much to the communities who sang it: Black trackliners keeping time and memory alive as they labored on America’s railroads. The song’s rhythm, Nelson explained, formed the foundation of the blues and rock and roll, with its distinctive pauses and work-song “huhs.” In a haunting twist, when a corporation was redeveloping the site of the old Virginia penitentiary, a construction crew unearthed a mass grave of 200 young men — all victims, historians believe, of that tunnel project — as folklore met forensic reality. The lyric, “They took John Henry to the White House, buried him in the sand,” turned out to describe the actual white house at the center of the penitentiary grounds, Nelson explained.
Nelson’s findings, shared in his book “Steel Drivin’ Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend,” remind us that the fight for worker safety and dignity has been ongoing for centuries. His students, he says, are often floored to realize America’s labor history is full of not only heroes, but also systemic injustices that still echo today. As Nelson puts it, learning stories like John Henry’s doesn’t just help us appreciate the past, it’s meant to prepare us to stand together, to remember that facing tough work — and the existential questions it brings — is a part of the American experience.
Dive deeper into Nelson’s “Steel Drivin’ Man,” and learn more about the hauntingly true story behind John Henry by listening to the full episode of the America’s Work Force Union Podcast.
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