William T. Couch (1901–1988)

Biographical Information

William Terry Couch

1901 Born 4 December in Pamplin, Va., son of a Baptist minister.

1917 Moved with family to farm between Chapel Hill and Durham. N.C.

1917-1918 Worked on farm and with Southern Power Company.

1920 Entered the University of North Carolina (January).

1920-1922 Served in the army; failed physical exam to enter West Point.

1922-1925 Returned to UNC. Worked as library assistant and as editor of Carolina Magazine.

1925 Married Elizabeth Calvert.

1925 Asked to direct the UNC Press by its director, Louis R. Wilson, while he took a leave of absence.

1926 Graduated with a B.A. degree from UNC.

1926 Appointed assistant director of the UNC Press.

1932 Appointed director of UNC Press when Dr. Wilson went to the University of Chicago.

1933 Edited and published Culture in the South.

1936 Appointed associate director of N.C. Writers Project. Supervised writing of North Carolina state guide.

1938-1941 Served as regional director of the Federal Writers Project.

1939 Edited and published These Are Our Lives.

1941-1943 Served as president of the American Association of University Presses.

1945 Resigned from UNC Press to accept offer from University of Chicago Press (August).

1945-1950 Served as director of University of Chicago Press.

1950 Fired from University of Chicago Press (November).

1951-1952 Moved to Medfield, Conn.; searched for a job and considered graduate work at Harvard or Yale.

1952 Hired by Crowell-Collier Publishing Co. Moved to New York (August).

1952-1959 Served as editor-in-chief of Collier's Encyclopedia and Year Books.

1959 Resigned from Crowell-Collier to accept job with J.J. Little and Ives Co. (July).

1959-1963 Served as editor of American Oxford Encyclopedia, published by Little and Ives.

1963 Resigned from Little and Ives to join the staff of the newly formed Center for American Studies in Burlingame, circa (March).

1963-1964 Served as co-director of Center for American Studies.

1965 His wife, Elizabeth Calvert, died (September).

1965 Returned to Chapel Hill.

1967-1968 Lived in New York while writing a book.

1967 Married Caro Mae Green, sister of Paul Green (March).

1968 Retired in Chapel Hill.

1970 Divorced from Caro Mae Green (October).

1972 Married Florence Stullman.

1988 Died on 10 December in Charlottesville, Va.