James Leary
Hall of Fame – 1994
James P. Leary of Rice Lake, Wisconsin is a folklorist and scholar of Scandinavian studies. He is a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His historical research concerns the cultural traditions of diverse peoples in America’s Upper Midwest, with an emphasis on Germanic, Nordic and Slavic folklore in the region and in relation to respective Old Country cultural hearths.
In addition to publishing books and essays, Leary has worked as a public folklorist since the 1970s, transforming research into a range of publicly accessible, collaborative productions that include folklife festivals, documentary sound recordings, films, public radio programs, museum exhibits, and websites.
He wrote about the concertina, “The German Concertina in the Upper Midwest,” in the book “Land Without Nightingales.”