School of Music. Ethnomusicology Division | University of Illinois Archives

The Ethnomusicology Archives of the School of Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was initiated in 1968 by professor emeritus Bruno Nettl when he deposited his field notes and recordings into the archives. The ethnomusicology program at the University of Illinois began four years earlier with the appointment of Nettl in 1964, and the creation of the Ethnomusicology Archives soon followed, as work with archival field recordings was integral to mid-century ethnomusicology.The Archives was formally established in 1972 by archivist and PhD student Avigdor Herzog with the completion of the music building. Herzog ran the Ethnomusicology Archives until 1975 and was succeeded by Stephen Blum from 1975-1979, who was responsible for developing the catalog system of the archives. Charles Capwell, appointed in the late 1970s following Blum, was in charge of the Ethnomusicology Archives throughout the 1980s.

The Archives was originally conceived as a repository for the field recordings and documents made by ethnomusicologists conducting research through the University of Illinois. Some of the first recordings housed within the Ethnomusicology Archives were made by Nettl himself during his fieldwork in Montana amongst the Blackfoot people. Nettl's recording from fieldwork conducted in Iran also reside within the Archives, as do field recordings made by prolific scholars including Stephen Blum, Daniel Neuman, Ted Solis, Charles Capwell, Philip Bolhman, Tom Turino, and Virginia Danielson, all of whom were graduate students or faculty at the University of Illinois during the latter half of the 20th century.