John Henry and His People

<p> 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.</p><p> The author's reconstruction based on contemporaneous evidence and subsequent research uncovers a fascinating story that supports the Dunnavant location and provides new insights.</p><p> Beyond John Henry readers will discover the lives and work of his people: Black and white singers; his captain contractor Frederick Dabney; C. C. Spencer the most credible eyewitness; John Henry's wife; the blind singer W. T. Blankenship who printed the first broadside of the ballad; and later scholars who studied John Henry. The book includes analyses of the song's numerous iterations several previously unpublished illustrations and a foreword by folklorist Art Rosenbaum.</p>