MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Press released ‘Mountaineers Are Always Free‘ at a book launch in the College of Law’s Event Center. 

The book was written by Folklorist and English Professor Rosemary Hathaway. It’s a study on the Mountaineer as the symbol of West Virginia, and how the character is a balance between hillbilly and frontiersman, according to the book’s summary.

“The Mountaineer is a mirror for a deep range of intangible values and ideals: It represents pride in one’s history and heritage. It personifies the rebellious, independent spirit reflected in the state motto, Montani Semper Liberi (Mountaineers are always free). It has been a tool students use to release their inhibitions and a tool the university’s administration has used to rein in student misbehavior.”

EXCERPT FROM MOUNTAINEERS ARE ALWAYS FREE: HERITAGE, DISSENT, AND A WEST VIRGINIA ICON BY ROSEMARY V. HATHAWAY

At the book launch, Hathaway read an excerpt of the book and discussed key concepts with Emily Hilliard of the West Virginia Folklife Program. Hathaway said she’s looking forward to starting a conversation about what it means to be a mountaineer.

“What I really am enjoying about it is finally having other people to talk to about it and hearing what other people’s experiences have been and what people think about this because that’s really what started me down this path in the first place, was realizing how many different ideas there were about who the mountaineer was and what the mountaineer should be,” said Hathaway.

The book is available for purchase on Amazon and Target.com.