Ain't Nothing but a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry

by Scott Reynolds Nelson

Who was the real John Henry? The story of this legendary African-American figure has come down to us in so many songs, stories, and plays, that the facts are often lost. Historian Scott Nelson brings John Henry alive for young readers in his personal quest for the true story of the man behind the myth. Nelson presents the famous folk song as a mystery to be unraveled, identifying the embedded clues within the lyrics, which he examines to uncover many surprising truths. He investigates the legend and reveals the real John Henry in this beautifully illustrated book.

Nelson’s narrative is multilayered, interweaving the story of the building of the railroads, the period of Reconstruction, folk tales, American mythology, and an exploration of the tradition of work songs and their evolution into blues and rock and roll. This is also the story of the author’s search for the flesh-and-blood man who became an American folk hero; Nelson gives a first-person account of how the historian works, showing history as a process of discovery. Readers rediscover an African-American folk hero. We meet John Henry, the man who worked for the railroad, driving steel spikes. When the railroad threatens to replace workers with a steam-powered hammer, John Henry bets that he can drive the beams into the ground faster than the machine. He wins the contest, but dies in the effort.

Nelson’s vibrant text, combined with archival images, brings a new perspective and focus to the life and times of this American legend.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Childrens, Middle Grade, Folklore, Picture Books

64 pages, Hardcover

First published December 26, 2007

About the author

SCOTT REYNOLDS NELSON is the author of Steel Drivin' Man, which won the National Award for Arts Writing, the Anisfield-Wolf Literary Prize, the Merle Curti Prize for best book in U.S. history, and the Virginia Literary Award for Nonfiction. His young adult book, Ain't Nothing But a Man (written with Marc Aronson) won seven national awards, including the Jane Addams Prize for best book on social justice.

Reviews

[Cheryl A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Does for history what all the lovely STEM books do for science, only better. It makes me, who puts up with historical fiction and reads almost no actual history, want to be a historian. Especially because I got the answers I've been asking for years to the question, "Was John Henry a real man?"

And it answers questions I didn't know I had. Plentiful details of the research process in an engaging text, and additional notes and a pointer towards the bibliographic details.

Terrific anti-racism resource, too.

[Heidi Marc-Aurele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting, and a good look at how the historian works to find answers to their research questions.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved this non-fiction book about the origins of the John Henry folklore (my favorite American folk tale, to be honest). This book is useful as an exploration of post-Civil War racism (the exploitation of Black prisoners--who were imprisoned with disregard to due process--to build the US railroads), and it's equally useful as an example of the kind of work and puzzle solving historians engage in as they look for plausible clues that fit the historical social contexts. Lots of teens still prefer non-fiction--I think this is a great recommendation for high schoolers (maybe middle schoolers, if they are advanced readers).

[Ornea Dory3000 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is action packed, well edited, can´t wait for the sequet.

[Michelle Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at who John Henry really was.

[Roxanne Hsu Feldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that the meandering way of Nelson's research process in discovering the truth (as he believes it) behind the John Henry song/legend is highly effective and affecting. Readers do get inspired and excited about the research process. It never claimed that what Nelson "uncovered" is the absolute truth except for the authors stating (on page 57) that he "finally had the full story" -- but even there, he wrote "the record of one man who most probably was the John Henry in the song." The nature of uncertainty when one investigates history comes through loud and clear. Another plus is a strong "voice" from the author. Of course, the historical photos and various records add to the value of the package. (Unfortunately, there are some typos. Of course, in the author's enthusiasm, as observed by the New York Times' reviewer, the book "sometimes takes leaps that seem a little bigger than necessary." (And I worry slightly about this since in a way, the book is meant to be an example for scholarship for young readers -- the leaping to certain conclusions that sometimes very passionate and narrowly focused minds do might not be the most exemplary. Although, on the other hand, that seems to be quite common in the scholarly world.)

I hope they will be corrected in future printing.) I have recorded 4 mishaps at

Editorial Mishaps: A Ledger for reference.

[Lars Guthrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nearly every day I try to convey my love for reading and studying history to kids, and Scott Nelson successfully does this here, in his search for a real John Henry. The steel drivin' man does not elude him (completely, anyway) and his tale of how a historian works fascinates. The words are great and worth five stars. My only complaint is the graphics. Despite the very cool photograph of the possible John Henry, all the illustration is presented monochromatically in sepia. This might play into what adults want, but I'm not sure it works for kids, when you're trying to let them know that history is alive and living. Budget probably entered into it, but as an example, Palmer Hayden's wonderful "His Hammer in His Hand" is robbed of its brilliant and vibrant colors.

[Annie Oosterwyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so excited by this book. It is not a standard biography, but a model for doing historical research. The author walks the reader through the process of discovering who John Henry really was and how he got his information.
This book is a fabulous introduction for students on how researchers work.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great example of both history and the historian's journey. Follow Scott Nelson as he has an "ah ha!" moment tracking down the 'truth' behind a folk song. . . was there really a John Henry, how and why do the fit into history and what can the story of the trackliners tell us?

[Tim Baumgartner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back when I was in elementary school, my music teacher, Mrs. Taylor, had us sing a song about John Henry regularly. When my wife posted this book as a suggestion to read on her blog [http://thebrainstormplus.blogspot.com...], I was very interested to read this.

What I just found out by reading this book, is that there were MANY versions of the song.

I'm especially impressed with this book because it helps explain how historians think in a simple, but detailed, easy-to-understand way. I think I might use the helpful hints detailed #1-6 at the end of the book for my classes to better understand how to think like historians [or bring this to the attention of the social studies teachers and see if/how we can better prepare students to think similarly]. The challenge is there's SO much pressure these days for teachers to cover all these various standards, I think we often struggle with teaching students HOW to think.

Nevertheless, this was a gem of a book that helped me better discern that this song I sang growing up was not necessarily a song about strength, but one of sadness.

[Henry Holman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book incredibly interesting as I read through it. The story takes place in a number of settings and is really cool because it follows both the author traveling the country and looking for John Henry, but it also mirrors the story of John Henry as it goes on. It becomes a history lesson and a mystery that allows us to connect folklore to real history and themes of post-Civil War America. This book would definitely work in my classroom because it connects to so many different ideas about American history. A story of a Black man besting industrialized machines speaks to so many people during the time the story comes out and empowers the African-American population in America at the time the story is being told. I think this would be good for a guided reading assignment because it deals with some more advanced language and deals with a lot of history that can be difficult to work through without understanding exactly what to be looking for.

[Phobean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent summarization of a ton of research and years of hunting down and traveling about for info. The little National Geographic emblem on the cover have me pause --I have grown convinced that, whether intentional or not, that org has had a hand in cultivating white supremacist culture and thought. I find it hard to interact with Nat Geo. Not sure what they have to do with the author's work, besides publishing this book. That aside, super interesting work on the author's part. I rarely think about who built the train tracks, but I've been aware of the John Henry mythology since childhood, thanks to Pete Segar and other folks musicians, and pop culture. Ended up listening to so many versions of the some due to reading this book, including an excellent rap-folk rendition by Gangstagrass. Finally --John Henry might have been a tiny guy born in New Jersey? What what?! #jerseypride

[Christie Kaaland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nelson's engaging first person voice invites readers to participate in his quest to uncover the mystery behind the songs of the tall tale character of John Henry. Incredibly in-depth research traces speculations from the original assumption that John Henry worked for the railroad and when the automated steel-driver threatened their occupation, John Henry challenged the machine to see who could drive more tracks in a day, which Henry won but, at the end of the die according to legend, he fell over dead.
Another version Nelson uncovered, based on accounts dug deep into library and prison records, and state engineering reports, speculates that some versions of the song are actually warnings about the threat of black death from breathing in the dust of working on the tracks.
His voice to readers in urgent and intimate making this a wonderful read for nonfiction readers.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about the process of history. It begins with a question and finding out what you already know. And then you gently start pulling on strings and investigating places where the story has gaps in the cloth.

History fascinates not because it's static, but because there are always more stories to find. And in this case what began as a song, as a legend, becomes a partially fleshed out story of the U.S. Civil War, post-war reconstruction and racism, the path from slavery to prison, good intentions gone wrong, corporate exploitation of prisoners, and covering up actions that you know are not good even though society at large might not even care. The story of John Henry isn't definitive, but is roughly sketched in a plausible fashion, and clearly demonstrates how we have consistently erased many of our country's stories because they don't reflect well on those in power at the time.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

The true story of John Henry's life and death is desperately sad, as one would expect, but this book provides fascinating insight into this historical mystery. The author shares throughout about his research process, explaining a historian's work at a kid-friendly level, with attention to what kinds of questions historians ask, how they analyze existing sources, and how they can uncover information about little-known, marginalized people and groups. This book gives an interesting glimpse into historical methodology and archival research, and includes historical photographs and pictures of historic railroad-related sites today.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Henry has always been one of my favorite folktales, and being a history enthusiast, I found this search for John Henry delightful. Scott Nelson examines the ballad of John Henry and other folklore to come up with clues to trace down John Henry. When he actually finds evidence of the real John Henry, then he is able to re-examine the words of the ballad to discover the implications and purpose behind the song.

Includes notes on the time period, the Blues, more research to be done, and the versions of the ballads.

[Zosma Leonis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author made an interesting choice to make the story of his own research the focus of this book. I think it worked really well in this case, given that there's so little known about the actual John Henry. Nelson is very up-front about the fact that much of his results are based on theory or conjecture, but overall the transparency of his research process gives a lot of weight to his conclusions. This is an interesting book both for what it tells us about the research process, but also for what we learn about John Henry's world.

[Maxine Fife · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about John Henry and his life. This is an easy to read chapter book that has many pictures that kids would enjoy to see and read about. I think this story would be great for a social studies classroom that is learning about John Henry and his impact. I also think this book would be great to go through with children and be able to ask questions about John Henry and his life.

[Scott Hayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing.

Enjoy a model historic investigation. Ponder the meaning buried in a familiar song. Brace yourself for cruelty uncovered.

Nelson's story contain nuggets worth digging for. The appendix on how historians do history puts the digging tools. Why was I only taught the scientific method in school, but not the historic method?

[Richie Partington · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 April 2008 AIN'T NOTHING BUT A MAN: MY QUEST TO FIND THE REAL JOHN HENRY by Scott Reynolds Nelson with Marc Aronson, National Geographic, January 2008, 64p. ISBN: 978-1-4263-0000-4

"One way for local whites to take the strut out of a black man's step was to put him in prison...Southerners who had just lost a war managed to convince courts to put hundreds of black men in prison, including black soldiers." -- from AIN'T NOTHING BUT A MAN

"But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people...then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait."
-- the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., from "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

Over the past 24 hours, I've been watching television news shows marking the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of MLK. I've seen in-depth features that examine the known facts and present snippets of conversations with those who were there at the time of the tragic events of 1968 Memphis.

What is the real truth concerning the FBI's, the Mafia's, or the Klan's role in the assassination of Reverend King? Will there one day be new evidence unearthed when someone leaves behind a deathbed confession? Will someone's private papers reveal unimagined and startling revelations? Might one of today's adolescents grow up to employ the Freedom of Information Act in a way that significantly enlightens us about events from the days of my own childhood?

History is a mystery, a swirling jigsaw puzzle, which is repeatedly being reworked and reinterpreted. Anyone who has done research -- whether a simple Google search or a rigorous extended process employing database searches, examinations of primary source materials, and interviews -- will readily appreciate the detective work of Professor Scott Reynolds Nelson, author of AIN'T NOTHING BUT A MAN: MY QUEST TO FIND THE REAL JOHN HENRY.

"Studying history may seem to be about filling up with knowledge -- like a car pulling into a gas station. Once you have a full tank, you are done. But it is just the opposite. The more you know about the past, the more questions you ask. Once you have a handle on what others have found, you can see the gaps, the spaces, the places that have not been covered. This is exactly what happened to me, for even before I ever thought about John Henry, I discovered that some 40,000 men, the largest railroad workforce in the South, were hardly mentioned in the history books. Why? I set out to learn more about those men. That was the big mystery I was trying to solve."

Professor Nelson eventually set his sights on also determining whether a real man amongst those 40,000 inspired the many generations of songs and stories about John Henry, the guy who supposedly outdid a steam drill with the hammer in his hand and then died. And in recounting a research process spanning many years -- a process of exploration, investigation, and interpretation -- along with revealing the fruits of that quest, Professor Nelson illustrates how our knowledge of history is the result of historians working long and hard to ferret out and make sense of clues about events from years ago. We learn from him that luck and inspiration, as well as determination, can play a role in what the world comes to know about the truth of the past.

"If I was right, and the song was talking about the Virginia Penitentiary, why was John Henry in prison? Why would he have been buried in the sand? And how did that connect to the C&O and steam drills and a contest of man against machine? Every question I asked led to more questions."

Through his work to shed light on these mysteries, Professor Nelson uncovered details of railroad construction and maintenance, historical tunnel excavation techniques, the development of and purpose for work songs, and even the possible genesis of the term "rock and roll."

In tracking down information on Nineteenth Century railroad workers and an imprisoned black man named John Henry -- a man who had been rented out by a warden during Reconstruction as part of a work crew -- Professor Nelson has provided readers an exceptional and fascinating look at how historians create the written record of the past.

Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_... http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/facult...

[Becky B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nelson shares how he was researching the men who worked on the railroad, and that led him to start looking for the real John Henry. There were enough details consistent throughout the various version of the song that suggested people were singing about a real man. He shares about his research process and what he eventually uncovered about a man who worked the railroad named John Henry.

This is just as much about the process of historical research and how to dig for information from the past as it is about John Henry. What Nelson uncovered about Henry and how the song has evolved and been misunderstood is absolutely fascinating. Highly recommended for history teachers, music teachers covering folk songs, writing teachers, and any students about to start a research project. Also a good read for those interested in railroad history and African American history, or just history in general. It's a quick read, but packed with all sorts of good stuff. Make sure to check out the further info and resources in the back of the book too.

Notes on content: Some railroad work-related deaths are related (but nothing very gruesome).

[Brenda Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was less a biography and more a fascinating account of the work of a historical researcher. Plentiful art and archival photos add to the appeal.

[Amanda Walz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be an excellent book. This shares how one historian followed trails to find out where the songs and stories of John Henry come from. Wow! I am blown away. Amazing!

[Megan Saben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent model of historical research.

[Wynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and heartbreaking.

[Rachel]

Enjoyed the incorporation of historical methods in this fascinating treasure hunt to learn more about John Henry!

[Quincy Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

a short but fascinating read about John Henry, whose song appears to be about a real man who really died beating a steam drill

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read that is also a great example of the research process and different search strategies. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the history or John Henry along with the author. I found it particularly interesting that the person who the author believes to be the true John Henry was not the large muscled strong man that tales lead us to believe. Very interesting and should help spark research interest in students.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A historian tells the fascinating story of how he uncovered the tragic truth behind the folk songs about the American hero John Henry.

In the days of the transcontinental railroad, 40,000 Southern trackliners (mainly African-Americans) were erased by history. No one recorded their experiences. All researchers have left are scattered records and the work songs these forgotten men sang.

Scott Reynolds Nelson, author of Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend , recounts his quest for a young audience. Many different versions of the songs about John Henry's race with the steam engine exist, but one verse in particular - combined with a clue on an old postcard - led Nelson to look more closely at the Virginia Penitentiary: a place where the bones of 300 men were discovered buried in sand without any markers. That mass grave led the historian to the sad truth behind John Henry's ballad.

Ain't Nothing But a Man is an intriguing story of how historical research happens and of how the American transcontinental railroad was built (though some of the technical explanations were less than clear). Using illustrations from old photographs, socialist art, and old diagrams, Nelson relates a small part of the history of how the labor of thousands of unknown men led to tunnels through mountains and steel roads across America.

I only wish that Nelson had told us a little more about the reaction to finding the bodies at Virginia Penitentiary, and what happened to them after they were discovered. Where were they reburied? Did anyone search for the men's descendants?

The appendices are great for teachers hoping to get kids excited about historical research, and offer a few tips for doing your own fact-finding as well as plenty annotated sources for further reading.

A few of the books mentioned in the appendix:
Monica Halpern: Railroad Fever: Building the Transcontinental Railroad 1830-1870
Amy L. Cohn (Ed.): From Sea to Shining Sea: A Treasury of American Folklore and Folk Songs
Mary Pope Osborne and Michael McCurdy: American Tall Tales

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Age Range: 10-14.
Genre: Biography, Nonfiction, History.
Honors: Winner of the Aesop Prize, awarded by the American Folklore Society, Jane Addams Children’s Book Honoree, Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, Booklist and Publishers Weekly “starred” reviews.

Scott Reynolds spent years researching the legend of John Henry, trying to determine if he had really lived. Ain’t Nothing but a Man begins at the moment of epiphany: when Reynolds discovered the clue that uncovered the history of a man, a myth, a hidden scandal and the birth of the blues and rock and roll. Told in the first person, the text conveys the exciting and frustrating twists and turns of the research quest. The large, attractively designed, format shows off the many photographs, art works and period documents. Marc Aronson’s brief essay: ‘How to Be a Historian’ delineates Nelson’s model for the active pursuit of history. Appendices add context and a bibliography, source notes and index support further reading.
This is an excellent, inherently interesting work with many tie-ins to curriculum: Civil War, Reconstruction, African American history, westward expansion, etc. Aronson’s essay stands on its own and is a great introduction to the study of history. While Reynolds’ theory is compelling he fails to address some questions raised by his explaination. He never comments on the huge discrepancy in John Henry’s size: over six feet in song, 5’ 1” in reality. The gloss that assumes Henry’s conviction for robbery was questionable seems too comfortably the exact opposite of the bias that may have unjustly convicted him. These loose ends don’t detract from the huge strengths of the work, one of which is to emphasize that more knowledge always leads to more questions.
Display with other investigations of historic individuals and legendary artifacts: Written in Bone and Secrets of a Civil War Submarine by Sally M. Walker, Digging for Troy by Jill Rubalcaba and Eric. H. Cline, (older tweens) In Search of Troy by Giovanni Caselli (younger tweens), Dave the Potter by Laban Carrick Hill and Etched in Clay by Andrea Cheng, and Fortune’s Bones by Marilyn Nelson. Alternatively display with the folktale inspirations: John Henry by Exra Jack Keats, John Henry by Brad Kessler and John Henry by Julius Lester.