Henrietta Yurchenco (born Henrietta Weiss, March 22, 1916 – December 10, 2007) was an American ethnomusicologist, folklorist, radio producer, and radio host. She worked to save traditional music by recording in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Biography and career

She was born Henrietta Weiss in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, March 22, 1916. Yurchenco studied piano at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in the School of Music. She recorded traditional music in Guatemala, Mexico, the United States, and Morocco. She also worked at

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that di ...

radio station and taught at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

. She knew

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...

and

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

. She hosted

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

on her

radio show, ''Adventures in Music,'' in 1940. She lived in New York City, New York, and died there on December 10, 2007, from lung failure, at the age of 91.

Personal life

She had been married the Argentine-born painter Basil Yurchenco. The couple divorced in 1955.

Books

*Yurchenco, Henrietta (2002). ''Around the World in 80 Years: A Memoir--A Musical Odyssey by Henrietta Yurchenco''. Point Richmond, California: MRI Press. *Yurchenco, Henrietta, assisted by Marjorie Guthrie. ''A Mighty Hard Road: The Woody Guthrie Story''. Introduction by Arlo Guthrie. *Yurchenco, Henrietta. ''In Their Own Voices: Women in the Judeo-Hispanic Song and Story''. *Yurchenco, Henrietta. ''A Russian Song Book''. *Yurchenco, Henrietta. ''Hablamos!'' *Yurchenco, Henrietta. ''In Their Own Voices''. (About the music of Sephardic Jewish women in Morocco, as well as numerous articles on folk music and figures, including Dylan, Bessie Smith, and Aunt Molly Jackson; as yet unpublished.) Yurchenco was interviewed by

Mickey Hart Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...

of the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

and is featured in his book ''Songcatchers'', published by

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

Films

*1996 - ''Henrietta Yurchenco: testimonio de vida''. Directed by José Luis Sagredo. *2004 - ''Lomax the Songhunter''. Directed by Rogier Kappers. *2005 - ''This Machine Kills Fascists''. Directed by Stephen Gammond.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20110718172224/http://en.world.freemusic.cz/index.php/henrietta-yurchenco-1916-2007/
Adventures in Folk Music radio program hosted by Henrietta Yurchenco and David Searat the WNYC Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yurchenco, Henrietta American ethnomusicologists 1916 births 2007 deaths Writers from Manhattan American expatriates in Mexico 20th-century American musicologists American women musicologists Writers from New Haven, Connecticut 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women