Henrietta Yurchenko was born on 22 March 1916 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. She was married to Boris Yurchenco. She died on 10 December 2007 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
She visited union halls and immigrant organizations to find authentic folk music. She used a mule and 300 pounds of equipment to find songs of remote Mexican and Guatemalan tribes. She recorded 2,000 of their songs for the Library of Congress.