Henry Truvillion Biography

Henry Truvillion recorded some 60 songs, calls, and chants for John Lomax in the mid- to late ’30s as part of the Archive of American Folk Song project instituted by the Library of Congress. Born in Mississippi, Truvillion worked on the rails for many years, finally settling in the so-called “Big Thicket” area of East Texas, where he was a part-time minister and the foreman of a work detail for Wier Lumber Company. His fervent, vernacular singing and his detailed knowledge of a wide variety of stock calls, work songs, track-lining chants, hunting songs, harvest songs, and other folk materials made him a valued contributor to Lomax’s research, and the folklorist recorded Truvillion on at least six occasions between 1933 and 1940.