In this presentation, I will discuss how" John Henryism"-a strong behavioral predisposition to cope actively with psychosocial environmental stressorsinteracts with low socioeconomic status to influence the health of African-Americans. Hypertension, a leading cause of disability and premature death among African-Americans, will be the focal health problem, although much of what I will say has implications for understanding other" stress-related" health problems that affect African-Americans disproportionately. Early on, I will describe the scientific and folkloric background of the" John Henryism Hypothesis," after which I will summarize the empirical data produced thus far by our group testing the validity of the hypothesis. In the concluding section of the paper, I will explore the deeper cultural meaning of John Henryism for African-Americans (both men and women), arguing that the concept of John Henryism may have something important to tell us about the relationship between African-Americans and selected core values of American culture. I shall begin with a word about the magnitude of the problem of hypertension in Black I Americans, then move quickly into a discussion of the circumstances that gave rise to the John Henryism Hypothesis.