Advertisement
Advertisement
John Henry
noun
plural
John HenriesInformal., a person's signature.
U.S. Folklore., a legendary Black man of exceptional strength and stamina.
Henry, John
1A hero of American folktales and folk songs. The stories portray him as a black man, enormously strong, who worked on railroads or on steamboats and died from exhaustion after he outperformed a steam drill in a contest.
“John Henry”
2An American folksong (see folk music) about the “steel-driving man” John Henry. It contains these lines:
John Henry said to his captain,
“A man ain't nothin' but a man,
And before I'd let your steam drill beat me down,
I'd die with the hammer in my hand, Lord, Lord!
I'd die with the hammer in my hand.”
Word History and Origins
Origin of Henry, John1
Example Sentences
National Cash Register founder John Henry Patterson elevated the role of sales and the position of salesperson, recognizing that marketing matters just as much as the product.
Our mental model often defaults to an industrial image—John Henry versus the steam drill—where jobs are one dominant task, and automation maps one‑to‑one: Automate the task, eliminate the job.
This monument resides directly across from a series of photographs by John Henry featuring Black mothers similarly holding their sons in urban environments.
He even launches into a triumphant monologue about the legend of John Henry: All night long, Morrow says, John Henry drove steel, fighting a machine that could dig deeper and faster.
Earlier in the day the King had visited the Oratory of St Philip Neri in Birmingham, founded by the 19th century Catholic theologian and philosopher, Cardinal John Henry Newman.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse
