Gandy Dancers

Gandy Dancers. . , "Gandy dancer" is a term that came to be used for the laborers who built and maintained railroad tracks prior to the mechanization of most of those tasks. The origin of the term is uncertain, although some suggest that it referred to the movement of the workers or that it was derived from the name of a Chicago manufacturer of hand tools used on the railroads. Many gandy dancers were African Americans or immigrants, and some states also used convict labor. The work could be quite dangerous, and numerous workers were injured or killed during construction of the railroads. Gandy dancers, especially African Americans, became well known for the work songs and chants that they performed during their labor. Such songs helped make legendary gandy dancer John Henry a major American folk hero, alongside such icons as Paul Bunyan and Davy Crockett. Although there is no definitive proof that John Henry was a real person, some scholars have argued that the legend was based on a gandy dancer who helped to construct either the Big Bend Tunnel (WV), the Lewis Tunnel (VA), or the Oak Hill Tunnel (AL), among others. As railroad work songs were freely shared and adapted, they exerted an important influence on a number of American musical traditions, including gospel, blues, old time, country, bluegrass, and folk music. In 1973, East Tennessee State University professors Thomas Burton and Jack Schrader produced a documentary film on railroad workers in this area, entitled Gandy Dancers (this film is held in the ETSU Archives of Appalachia and can be viewed online). , , Department of Appalachian Studies, East Tennessee State University