Finding Aid for Judith McCulloh University of Illinois Press Production Records, 1972-2008 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Title: Judith McCulloh University of Illinois Press Production Records, 1972-2008

ID: 38/1/22

Primary Creator: McCulloh, Judith (1935-2014)

Extent: 0.0

Arrangement:

Organized into three distinct series:

1) Production Files, ca. 1972-2000. Arranged alphabetically by last name, organization and then by project title. Arrangement starts at E. A-D files were not recieved with the rest of the collection.

2) ASCAP Awards, 1976-1982. Arranged chronologically by date.

3) 90th Anniversary Ephemera, 2008.

Date Acquired: 07/23/2025

Subjects: American folk music, American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), Society for Ethnomusicology, University Press

Languages: English

Consists of mainly publication and production files, awards, and ephemera from Judith McCulloh's office at the University of Illinois Press documenting her time as an assistant editor, executive editor, assistant director and director of development at the Press. Of particular importance are the production files for music publication in the University Press, as maintained by Judith McCulloh.

Judith Marie McCulloh (1935-2014) was born in Spring Valley, IL on August 16^th, 1935. She attended Peoria Central High School. She received a general diploma from Cottey College, a bachelor’s degree in English from Ohio Wesleyan University, and a master’s degree in English from Ohio State University. She received a Ph.D. in folklore in 1970 from Indiana University, with minors in anthropology and linguistics. She moved to Urbana, IL in the 1960s when her husband, Leon McCulloh accepted a job at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. During this time, she edited two LP recordings for the University of Illinois Campus Folksong Club: a collection of cowboy and rodeo songs called The Hell-Bound Train by Glenn Ohrlin, annotated with folklorist Archie Green, and a collection of field recordings from central and southern Illinois titled Green Fields of Illinois.

Judith McCulloh began her career at the University of Illinois Press as an assistant editor in 1972. It was in the same year that she launched the Music in American Life series with Archie Green’s book Only a Miner. The acclaimed book series was devoted to the study of music in the United States as shaped by folklore, English literature and labor history. She became an honorary member of the Society for Ethnomusicology in 2005 and served as the chair of the board of trustees of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress for two terms (1990-92 and 1996-98) Among other professional honors, she was the president of the American Folklore Society (1986-1987). She retired from the University of Illinois Press in 2007 as the Press's assistant director and executive editor. Judith McCulloh passed away on July 13^th, 2014.

American folk music
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP)
Society for Ethnomusicology
University Press

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Acquisition Source: University Archives

Acquisition Method: Gift

Separated Materials: The Press Book Catalogs (38/1/801), and University of Illinois Department Serials (38/1/819) are two collections that emerged from the records originally received as part of the Judith McCulloh production files. The materials were distinct enough to be organized into separtate bodies of content, and are described as such in separate record series: 38/1/801 (Press Catalogs) and 38/1/819 (University Department Serials). For more information, please see: https://archon.library.illinois.edu/archives/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=13432&q= and https://archon.library.illinois.edu/archives/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=4546&q=.

Other Note: Note that in Series 1: Production Files, the records are arranged alphabetically, starting with the letter E. The files for letters A-D were not recieved with the rest of this collection.