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
Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend

Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend

Nelson, Scott Reynolds

Paperback

Biographies GeneralHistorical FiguresMythology & Folklore

Publisher Price: $17.98

ISBN10: 0195341198
ISBN13: 9780195341195
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: Aug 4 2008
Pages: 224
Weight: 0.65
Height: 0.56 Width: 5.48 Depth: 8.55
Language: English
The ballad John Henry is the most recorded folk song in American history and John Henry--the mighty railroad man who could blast through rock faster than a steam drill--is a towering figure in our culture.
In Steel Drivin' Man, Scott Reynolds Nelson recounts the true story of the man behind the iconic American hero, telling the poignant tale of a young Virginia convict who died working on one of the most dangerous enterprises of the time, the first rail route through the Appalachian Mountains. Using census data, penitentiary reports, and railroad company reports, Nelson reveals how John Henry, victimized by Virginia's notorious Black Codes, was shipped to the infamous Richmond Penitentiary to become prisoner number 497, and was forced to labor on the mile-long Lewis Tunnel for the C&O railroad. Equally important, Nelson masterfully captures the life of the ballad of John Henry, tracing the song's evolution from the first printed score by blues legend W. C. Handy, to Carl Sandburg's use of the ballad to become the first folk singer, to the upbeat version by Tennessee Ernie Ford.

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