jetsilverThose familiar with African-American folklore will be very familiar with John Henry, the "steel-drivin' man" who battled a steam-powered drill and won, then died.
John Henry was considered a mythical figure until historian Scott Nelson discovered that he was a real person, a convict who had been put to work on the C&O Railroad. The link contains a video of a lecture by Professor Nelson.
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Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend | Virginia Museum of History & Culture
According to the ballad that made him famous, John Henry did battle with a steam-powered drill, beat the machine, and died. Folklorists have long thought John Henry to be mythical, but historian Scott Nelson has discovered that he was a real person—a nineteen-year-old from New Jersey who was convicted of theft in a Virginia court in 1866, sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary, and put to work building the C&O Railroad. There, at the Lewis Tunnel, Henry and other prisoners worked alongside steam-powered drills.