Judith McCulloh


Judith McCulloh was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist.

Early life and education

McCulloh was born in Spring Valley, Illinois, on August 16, 1935. She grew up at Northmoor Orchard, not far from Peoria, where her parents owned an apple orchard and sold apples and cider. She first became interested in folk music in 1954 while attending the National Folk Festival in St. Louis. She studied at Cottey College, Ohio Wesleyan University, and Ohio State University. She earned her Ph.D in folklore at Indiana University.

Career

McCulloh worked as an editor at the University of Illinois Press for 35 years. She was the editor at the press of the acclaimed Music in American Life series, which she launched in 1972.
McCulloh died of cancer in Urbana, Illinois, on July 13, 2014, aged 78. Several memorials in her name were posthumously established, among them the Judith McCulloh Fellowship by the Society for American Music, the Judith McCulloh Fund for American Music at the University of Illinois Press, and the Judith McCulloh Public Sector Award, distributed by the Society for Enthnomusicology.