John Henry
Back to Heroes Main > John HenryReal Identity: John Wilson
Affiliation(s): None
Skills: Military training and Steel Driving
John Wilson was a veteran of the Korean War and fought with distinction. After the armistice was signed and he was discharged, Wilson took a job at a local machine shop in Knoxville, Tennessee. He settled down with his wife Lucille and had a daughter who they named Loretta.
Tired of the racial discrimination that remained, Wilson devised an alternate identity as John Henry and began a campaign to attack the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. In mockery, his outfit was of a black hood, contrasting the white hood of the Klan. He also wore a broken noose, a familiar image of racial tensions. For an extended period, John Henry wounded dozens of Klansmen and killed two.
His campaign was brought to an end when he was wounded himself and came upon a young girl who revealed his location. At that moment, he lost hope. He was beaten, humiliated, hung then burned by the Klan. His family was killed in a fire. John Henry was buried on March 17. Reported on the news, John Henry became a symbol to the likes of Edward Murrows. Wilson's murder represented that America was still years away from a time of equality and hope and that the next generation would inherit the same problems to solve.