Close Menu
The Baylor Lariat
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    Trending
    • Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown
    • Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects
    • Baylor graduate charged after killing cats with pellet gun, hanging bodies over utility lines
    • Baylor Football’s Alex Foster dies at 18
    • Board of Regents confirms budget, renovations, new leadership in May meeting
    • How facilities responds to storms, flooding in campus buildings
    • Welcome Week leaders now paid in hopes of increasing numbers
    • 5 Baylor sports storylines to look forward to in 2025-26
    • About us
      • Spring 2025 Staff Page
      • Copyright Information
    • Contact
      • Contact Information
      • Letters to the Editor
      • Subscribe to The Morning Buzz
      • Department of Student Media
    • Employment
    • PDF Archives
    • RSS Feeds
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    The Baylor LariatThe Baylor Lariat
    Subscribe to the Morning Buzz
    Sunday, July 6
    • News
      • State and National News
        • State
        • National
      • Politics
        • 2025 Inauguration Page
        • Election Page
      • Homecoming Page
      • Baylor News
      • Waco Updates
      • Campus and Waco Crime
    • Arts & Life
      • Wedding Edition 2025
      • What to Do in Waco
      • Campus Culture
      • Indy and Belle
      • Sing 2025
      • Leisure and Travel
        • Leisure
        • Travel
          • Baylor in Ireland
      • Student Spotlight
      • Local Scene
        • Small Businesses
        • Social Media
      • Arts and Entertainment
        • Art
        • Fashion
        • Food
        • Literature
        • Music
        • Film and Television
    • Opinion
      • Editorials
      • Points of View
      • Lariat Letters
    • Sports
      • March Madness 2025
      • Football
      • Basketball
        • Men’s Basketball
        • Women’s Basketball
      • Soccer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
      • Volleyball
      • Equestrian
      • Cross Country and Track & Field
      • Acrobatics & Tumbling
      • Tennis
      • Golf
      • Pro Sports
      • Sports Takes
      • Club Sports
    • Lariat TV News
    • Multimedia
      • Video Features
      • Podcasts
        • Don’t Feed the Bears
      • Slideshows
    • Advertising
    The Baylor Lariat
    Home»Featured

    Moody Library houses grand opening of Black Gospel Archive and Listening Center

    Madison MartinBy Madison MartinNovember 11, 2021Updated:November 12, 2021 Featured No Comments3 Mins Read
    Gospel scholar Robert Darden will present a lecture on the importance and impact of Black gospel music in American history in conjunction with the grand opening and dedication of the Black Gospel Archive and Listening Center in Moody Memorial Library. Photo courtesy of Robert Darden
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    The Baylor Libraries encourages students, faculty and staff to join the unveiling of the new Black Gospel Archive and Listening Center at 10 a.m. Friday in the garden level of Moody Memorial Library.

    A restoration project that has been in the making since 2006, it is the world’s largest mission to identify, acquire, preserve, record and catalog the most at-risk music from the Black gospel music tradition during the Golden Age. The restoration project staff and researchers will be sharing their ideas and inspiration for the project, following a performance by Heavenly Voices Choir. This event is free and open to the public to join in the grand opening and dedication to the newly constructed archive and listening center.

    “As we would look at creating different exhibits, we make sure we’re working on being culturally inclusive so that all of our students, as they go through our spaces, see themselves,” Archer said. “How can you feel at home if you don’t see yourself in the spaces you need to occupy?”

    A lecture about the importance and impact of Black gospel music will be presented by Robert Darden — founder of the Black Gospel Restoration Project and professor in the Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media — along with Robert Marovich, an author and Gospel music collector who provided the Black Gospel Restoration Project with materials for digitizing and adding to its online database.

    Jeffry Archer — dean of Baylor Libraries — will also be welcoming guest speakers such as Ella Prichard, Baylor alumna and adviser for Baptist causes; Horace Maxile, associate professor of music theory; and Dr. Nancy Brickhouse, provost.

    Darryl Stuhr, director for digitization and digital preservation services in the Library and Academic Technology Services Group at Baylor, shared the technological accomplishments the project has created to advance people’s experience within the Black Gospel Archives and Listening Center.

    “It’ll be a place where you can pull physical discs off the shelf to look at them, multiple workstations where you can search the digital collection and also a space where you can listen privately and engage with the materials musically,” Stuhr said.

    As a user, students, researchers and the general public can visit from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to engage with the newly constructed space that other spaces in Moody Memorial Library don’t offer. It includes 45s, 78s, LPs or long play records designed as a flipbook along the walls, soundproof pods, Imax setup and a musical keyboard for researchers to play along with the recordings of gospel songs.

    “The spiritual freedom songs of gospel music provided the foundations for all American popular music and a base for the civil rights movements,” Darden said. “It’s an unparalleled glimpse into a period in history when African Americans didn’t have as many outlets to express themselves as they do now.”

    Gospel music is one of the many ways of cultural and religious expression within the Black community that has influenced American history. It originated from Black spirituals, religious songs inspired by teachings of Christianity by slave owners, hymns and the church. The songs were often about freedom, oppression, love and hope and even used a secret code to communicate.

    “I’m hoping this is an opportunity not only for African American students to use but also dominant culture students who use the space to engage with the collection to broaden their perspective on how, while we may be different, we’re all praising God,” Archer said.

    Madison Martin

    Keep Reading

    Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown

    Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects

    Baylor graduate charged after killing cats with pellet gun, hanging bodies over utility lines

    Baylor Football’s Alex Foster dies at 18

    Board of Regents confirms budget, renovations, new leadership in May meeting

    How facilities responds to storms, flooding in campus buildings

    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Recent Posts
    • Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown June 27, 2025
    • Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects June 26, 2025
    About

    The award-winning student newspaper of Baylor University since 1900.

    Articles, photos, and other works by staff of The Baylor Lariat are Copyright © Baylor® University. All rights reserved.

    Subscribe to the Morning Buzz

    Get the latest Lariat News by just Clicking Subscribe!

    Follow the Live Coverage
    Tweets by @bulariat

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    • Featured
    • News
    • Sports
    • Opinion
    • Arts and Life
    © 2025 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.