Before the turn of the twentieth century; many Swedish men emigrated to the American Rockies as itinerant laborers; drawn by the region’s developing industries. Single Swedish women ventured west; too; and whole families migrated; settling into farm communities. By 1920; one-fifth of all Swedish immigrants were living in the West. In Up in the Rocky Mountains; Jennifer Eastman Attebery offers a new perspective on Swedish immigrants’ experiences in Idaho; Montana; Utah; Wyoming; Colorado; and New Mexico from 1880 to 1917 by interpreting their letters home. Considering more than three hundred letters; Attebery analyzes their storytelling; repetitive language; traditional phrasing; and metaphoric images. Recognizing the letters’ power as a folk form; Attebery sees in them the writers’ relationships back in Sweden as well as their encounters with religious and labor movements; regionalism; and nationalism in their new country. By defining personal letters as a vernacular genre; Attebery provides a model for discerning immigrants’ shared culture in correspondence collections. By studying their words; she brings to life small Swedish communities throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Jennifer Eastman Attebery is professor of English and director of American studies at Idaho State University.
#1502232 in Books 1998-09Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 1.01 x 7.39 x 9.20l; #File Name: 0816035482464 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Fascinating Read!By JSWI thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book. It's divided up into sections (like chapters) by location (of the storytellers) and gives a little background on each person who is telling their story. Each story is about 2 to 4 pages long so it's an easy read if you are like me and only like to read a few pages each night. I like that it's written "in their voice" you can almost hear the person talking in your head. It's interesting to hear the different backgrounds; and takes on arriving at the island (based on the age the person was when they arrived). Pictures are interesting too. Overall a great book - I'm not sure my relatives arrived via the Island or through Boston but it's a fantastic read of history. My only con is that the sheer size of this hardback book is difficult to read if you are a bed-reader. It's probably great on a table top or maybe sitting up with a lap desk but it's really large and heavy so it's not an easy bed read. (But it's still a good enough read that I still choose to read it in bed.)1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Listening to our pastBy AlayneBoth sides of my family came from Europe and I found this book SO exciting. I think of my grandparents with a lot of the stories I read in this GREAT book. I would recommend this book to anyone and more so to anyone with family from Europe or outside the United States.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Ellis Island InterviewsBy Laura E. ClarkI was intrigued by this book and decided to buy it because the community orchestra in which I play just performed Peter Boyle's Ellis Island: The Dream of America. These written accounts are so moving and helped me more fully appreciate the greatness of our country and what it offers to those seeking a new and better life in America. It's a great book to have on a coffee table for a conversation piece!
