Baylor University Awarded $2.48 Million Grant for Black Gospel Archive

From Baylor University:

Baylor University has been awarded a $2.48 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative (RCII) to support a major expansion of the Black Gospel Archive (BGA) at Baylor University Libraries. The award represents one of the largest foundation gifts to support Baylor Libraries and will underwrite an expansion of the Black Gospel Archive and Listening Center, create a four-year concert series and hire staff positions beginning in 2025, in addition to several other important projects aimed at furthering the goals of the BGA.

“Lilly Endowment’s support for the next phase of the Black Gospel Archive represents a game-changing opportunity for the Baylor University Libraries,” said Jeffry Archer, dean of University Libraries, Museums and the Press at Baylor. “After 20 years of groundbreaking work to locate, preserve and make accessible America’s Black Gospel music heritage, this gift will propel the Black Gospel Archive to a new level of national visibility and further our understanding of the impact of African American worship on religious culture at large.”

The RCII’s purpose is to “support museums and other cultural institutions across the United States in developing exhibitions and educational programs that fairly and accurately portray the role of religion in the U.S. and around the world.” Baylor’s proposal outlines several keystone projects that made it a fit for the initiative, including:

• Expanding the Black Gospel Archive & Listening Center in Moody Memorial Library to include new instructional space and adding $200,000 in state-of-the-art exhibits;
• Establishing a series of concerts to be held in Waco, Detroit and Chicago between 2025 and 2028;
• Launching a fully searchable online version of the leading discography of Black Gospel music, with direct links to the Royce-Darden Collection; and
• Creating a traveling Black Gospel music exhibit for use by churches across the country.

Serving as the grant’s principal investigator, Darryl Stuhr, director for digitization and digital collection preservation services at Baylor Libraries, said Lilly Endowment’s generous support will provide the most significant expansion of the project, collection, archive and outreach.

Learn More, Read the Complete Announcement

Direct to  Black Gospel Archive

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