SongEra: ReconstructionEra: Jim Crow

Little John Henry

c. 1934(Approximate date)· Traditional (artist)

Artist
Traditional
Genre
work song

A version of the "John Henry" ballad and hammer-song complex (Laws I1, Roud 790), first documented as a titled recording by James "Iron Head" Baker in 1934; the broader John Henry legend traces to the Reconstruction-era railroad construction of the early 1870s.

Sources & citations

  1. 1.folklorist.orgwebsite
  2. 2.en.wikipedia.orgwikipedia
  3. 3.loc.govwebsite
Little John Henry · We've Been Protesting