Professor Jennifer Eastman Attebery publishes her fifth academic book
December 14, 2023
Idaho State University professor Jennifer Eastman Attebery has had her fifth academic book published by University of Wisconsin Press. As Legend Has It: History, Heritage, and the Construction of Swedish American Identity was released by the press on November 21, 2023. The book was made possible through research support from the College of Arts and Letters in the form of a sabbatical leave and course releases.
As Legend Has It analyzes nearly 300 historical legends from the Swedish American immigrants of the Midwestern and Western regions. These stories were used by the immigrants in writing community histories expressing their sense of a hyphenated ethnic and American heritage.
Utah State University Professor Jeanne Banks Thomas describes the book as "a sophisticated and sharp-eyed take on the vexed and complicated presentation of heritage, story, and community in... local history writing."
The book was chosen as part of the Path to Open access initiative of JSTOR, the American Council of Learned Societies, and academic presses to provide equitable access to academic research.
Attebery is Professor Emerita in the Department of English and Philosophy, where she taught folklore and American Studies for thirty years and chaired the department from 2012-2018. Her previous books include Up in the Rocky Mountains: Writing the Swedish Immigrant Experience (University of Minnesota Press, 2007) and Pole Raising and Speech Making: Modalities of Swedish-American Summer Celebration (Utah State University Press/ University Press of Colorado, 2015).
In retirement she is continuing her research with a series of academic papers and articles concerning the use of legends in fiction writing.
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