Dena J. Epstein papers

Biographical note

Dena Julia Polacheck Epstein was born November 30, 1916 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the second of four children of William S. Polacheck of Wisconsin and Hilda R Satt of Wloclawek, Poland. After the death of her father when Epstein was 11, she and heDena Julia Polacheck Epstein was born November 30, 1916 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She attended the University of Chicago, where she received a bachelor of art in music in 1937, and later in 1943 a master of arts in library science from the University of Illinois. She was the cataloger in art and music at the University of Illinois (1939–1943); Senior Music Librarian at the Newark [NJ] Public Library (1943–1945); Music Cataloger and Reviser, Music Section, Copyright Cataloging division at the Library of Congress (1946–1948). Noticing the absence of any historical writing chronicling the origins of black slave music, Epstein conducted research from approximately 1955 until the publication of her monumental work Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: Black Folk Music to the Civil War published in 1977 by the University of Illinois Press. She has written numerous articles, made many presentations, served on committees and boards from the local library to the Center for Black Music Research and the National Endowment for Humanities project review committee.