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

Nelson, Scott Reynolds & Aronson, Marc. Ain’t Nothing but a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry.  National Geographic, Washington D.C.: 2008. 64 pages. Tr. $ ISBN 9781426300011

Annotation

Ain’t Nothing but a Man traces author Scott Nelson’s search to uncover the real man behind the American legend of John Henry.

Review

Ain’t Nothing But a Man catalogs Nelson’s quest to discover the man behind the American legend of John Henry.  Nelson goes beyond just telling the story of John Henry; he details the experience of his research.  Nelson begins by deconstructing the various different versions of songs about John Henry, but his research takes him much further than just song lyrics.  Nelson’s quest is demonstrative of the fact that not all research takes place in the library or archive.  Nelson goes out into the field visiting parts of the railroad that Henry possibly could have worked on.  These field trips provided invaluable clues to discovering the real John Henry’s identity.  In the end not only did Nelson uncover the likely identity of John Henry and the truth behind the legend, he uncovered the truth behind 300 unmarked graves found around the Virginia Penitentiary.  Like John Henry, these prisoners were loaned out to work on the railroad and died working on the railroad, probably from inhaling dust and developing the lung disease silicosis.  Nelson found these men’s voices in the lyrics of John Henry and the true meaning behind the legendary railroad worker. 

Awards/Honors

ALSC Notable Book 2009

YALSA’s Best Books for Young Adults 2009

Front and Back Matter

TOC, Appendices (The Search Goes on, Many John Henrys, Map of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in 1873), How to Be a Historian by Marc Aronson, suggestions for further reading, a note about my sources, index

Author’s Website

http://srnels.people.wm.edu/

http://www.marcaronson.com/