Mountaineers Are Always Free

The West Virginia University Mountaineer is not just a mascot: it is a symbol of West Virginia history and identity embraced throughout the state. In this deeply informed but accessible study folklorist Rosemary Hathaway explores the figures early history as a backwoods trickster its deployment in emerging mass media and finally its long and sometimes conflicted careerbeginning officially in 1937as the symbol of West Virginia University.Alternately a rabble-rouser and a romantic embodiment of the states history the Mountaineer has been subject to ongoing reinterpretation while consistently conveying the value of independence. Hathaways account draws on multiple sources including archival research personal history and interviews with former students who have portrayed the mascot to explore the complex forces and tensions animating the Mountaineer figure. Often serving as a focus for white masculinist and Appalachian identities in particular the Mountaineer that emerges from this study is something distinct from the hillbilly. Frontiersman and rebel both the Mountaineer figure traditionally and energetically resists attempts (even those by the university) to tame or contain it.