Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
John Henry and His People: The Historical Origin and Lore of America's Great Folk Ballad

John Henry and His People: The Historical Origin and Lore of America's Great Folk Ballad

Garst, John

Paperback

Mythology & FolkloreBlack American StudiesWorld Music

ISBN10: 1476686114
ISBN13: 9781476686110
Publisher: McFarland & Company
Published: Jan 11 2022
Pages: 281
Weight: 0.85
Height: 0.90 Width: 5.90 Depth: 8.80
Language: English

The song John Henry, perhaps America's greatest folk ballad, is about an African-American steel driver who raced and beat a steam drill, dying with his hammer in his hand from the effort. Most singers and historians believe John Henry was a real person, not a fictitious one, and that his story took place in West Virginia--though other places have been proposed. John Garst argues convincingly that it took place near Dunnavant, Alabama, in 1887.

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