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The John Henry legend tells of the strong black worker who won a contest against a steam-powered drill during the railroad-building era of the late 19th century. According to the legend John Henry was a steel driver. Using just a hammer and his own strong arms, he drove a steel bit deeper into the rock than the steam drill could do in the same period of time. He died of exhaustion soon afterwards, his heroic feat costing him his life. Those are the elements on which the legend is based, though there are many variations.
Generations of folklorists and historians have tried to prove John Henry really existed and to place the alleged contest. Early research pointed to the Big Bend Tunnel in Summers County, West Virginia, as the site of John Henry’s deed. In the 1920s a rivalry developed between two professors researching John Henry: Louis Chappell of West Virginia University and Guy Johnson of the University of North Carolina. They never agreed on the details, but both placed the story in West Virginia. Others claim that John Henry beat the steam drill in Alabama or Virginia or Jamaica.