Above the Oxbow: Stories Entangled with a Mountain

A journey through the tangle of rich narratives surrounding Mount Holyoke, a locally cherished mountain in Western Massachusetts. Through an accessible blend of storytelling and scholarly analysis, this ethnography of place examines the significance of the natural landscape, historic sites, and material culture, revealing how cultural perspectives, community activism, and personal experiences shape our understanding of a place. Raad provides the backstory on the Summit House, the erstwhile tramway, its multiple airplane crashes, the local fight to preserve the mountain as a natural space free from development, and its myriad uses today.