John Handcox facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John L. Handcox
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Poet and musician John Handcox at a Union Labor Tribute, San Diego, 1992
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| Born | February 05, 1904 |
| Died | September 18, 1992 (aged 88) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Poet, songwriter |
| Spouse(s) | Ruth |
John L. Handcox (1904–1992) was an American poet and songwriter. He lived during a tough time called the Great Depression. John was a tenant farmer in Arkansas, which means he farmed land owned by someone else. He became famous for his powerful songs and poems that helped people fighting for better lives.
John played a very important part in making life better for sharecroppers (farmers who give a share of their crops as rent). He also helped inspire people who were organizing and joining labor unions. Even though he only wrote songs for a short time, many of his songs became so popular that people still sing them today!
His Life Story
John L. Handcox was born on February 5, 1904, in Brinkley, Arkansas. When he was a kid, he really liked the poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar. John went to school until the ninth grade. His father owned land, but they lost it after his father was hurt in an accident.
In 1935, John joined a group called the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU). This union helped farmers who didn't own their land. John started writing songs and poems to encourage the union members.
Two years later, in 1937, two people named Charles Seeger and Sidney Robertson recorded John's songs for the Library of Congress. Other famous protest singers like Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and Joe Glazer later shared his songs with even more people.
After many years, John Handcox appeared again in the 1980s. This was for the 50th anniversary celebration of the STFU in Memphis. In 1984, he wrote two new songs that spoke about the president at that time, Ronald Reagan.
On January 31, 1992, John Handcox was honored at a special event in San Diego. Musicians Pete Seeger and Joe Glazer even performed his song "Roll the Union On" with him!
In 2013, a professor named Michael Honey wrote a book about John's life. It's called Sharecropper's Troubador: John L. Handcox, the Southern Tenant Farmer's Union, and the African American Song Tradition. Professor Honey met John in 1985 and recorded interviews with him.
Some of John Handcox's songs were so important that they even became the titles of books! For example, H. L. Mitchell, who helped start the Southern Tenant Farmers Union, named his autobiography Mean Things Happening In This Land after one of John's songs.
His Amazing Songs
John L. Handcox wrote many powerful songs and poems. Here are some of the recordings of his work:
- John L. Handcox: Songs, Poems & Stories of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (recorded in 2004)
- "Raggedy, Raggedy Are We"
- "No More Mourning"
- "Mean Things"
- "Planter and The Sharecropper"
- "Landlord, What In the Heaven Is The Matter With You?"
- "In My Heart"
- "Join The Union Tonight"
- "Roll The Union On"
- "Strike In Arkansas"
- "Oh No, We Don't Want Reagan Anymore"
- "Let's Get Reagan Out"
- "I Live On"
- An interview with Joe Glazer from 1985
- Songs for Political Action: Folk Music, Topical Songs and the American Left (recorded in 1996)
- "Raggedy, Raggedy Are We"
- "No More Mourning"
- "Join The Union Tonight"
- "There Is Mean Things Happening in this Land"
Learning More About John
If you want to learn even more about John L. Handcox, you can check out these books:
- John Marsh (editor). You Work Tomorrow: An Anthology of American Labor Poetry, 1929-41. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-472-05000-0. This book includes some of John Handcox's poems.
- Michael Honey. Sharecropper's Troubadour: John L. Handcox, the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union, and the African American Song Tradition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. ISBN: 9780230111271. This is a full biography about his life.
