Barry Ulanov papers, 1932-2003, 1932-2003, bulk 1940-1993, 1940-1993

Barry Ulanov (1918-2000) was a jazz critic, professor of English at Barnard College, and prolific writer. He wrote, edited, or translated nearly fifty books and over a thousand articles on a wide range of subjects. His interests included music, modern art, psychology, history, religion, and literature.

Ulanov was born in Manhattan on April 10, 1918 and attended Columbia University, where he took advantage of his proximity to Harlem to immerse himself in jazz music and culture. After receiving his BA in 1939, Ulanov worked as a jazz writer and edited the journal Metronome from 1943 to 1955. He shifted the focus of the journal to cover more jazz and be-bop music, particularly black musicians who had previously received little notice in the journal. From 1955 to 1958 he wrote for Down Beat and published several biographies of jazz musicians in the 1940s and 1950s.

In 1939, Ulanov married Joan Bel Geddes, who had been a student at Barnard during his years at Columbia. This marriage lasted 29 years and produced three children: Anne, Nicholas, and Katherine. In 1968, Ulanov married Ann Belford, with whom he later had a son, Alexander. Ann Belford Ulanov taught at Union Theological Seminary as Professor of Psychiatry and Religion.

Ulanov's interest in the connection between modern art and contemporary American culture led him to pursue a Ph.D. in English Literature at Columbia University, which he completed in 1955. In the meantime, he also became involved in architectural projects in Denver, Colorado and Long Island. He taught English Literature at Princeton University from 1951 to 1953, and then, from 1953 to 1988, at Barnard College. He was an adjunct professor of Religion at Columbia University and, after retiring from Barnard, he taught at Union Theological Seminary in the Department of Psychiatry and Religion. Ulanov lectured worldwide on a range of topics.

Ulanov converted to Catholicism in 1951 and became involved with the Catholic Renaissance Society. He was an active member of the Vatican II Council, where he advocated for the use of vernacular in the mass and amplified music in church. Ulanov lectured at a number of Catholic colleges and spoke at the International Eucharistic Congress with Pope John XXIII in Bombay in 1964. He wrote and edited numerous books and articles on religion and culture.

In his last twenty years, Ulanov wrote extensively on religion and psychology, publishing over ten books with his second wife, Ann Belford Ulanov. Until his death, they co-edited the Journal of Religion and Health. Ulanov died on April 30, 2000, at the age of 82.