To the Baylor Campus Community, As President Abraham Lincoln said during the dark days prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Those words may have slipped into the realm of cliche to those of us in the enlightened 21st century, but they hold truer than ever…
Category: Collections
Unveiling the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project’s “Wall of Honor”
Any project as ambitious as our Black Gospel Music Restoration Project cannot happen in a vacuum, nor can it succeed without the willing hands and open hearts of a broad range of supporters, and after almost a decade’s worth of work toward preserving America’s black gospel heritage, we’ve made significant progress thanks to the support…
Stepping on Board with The Mighty Wonders of Aquasco, Maryland
Since the early days of the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project, we’ve been intrigued by a version of “Old Ship of Zion” by the Mighty Wonders of Aquasco, Maryland. Intrigued, because it’s a soulful, a cappella rendering of a song that offers a surefire way to salvation (“Step on board if you want to see…
A January Mystery: What Was “The Promoters” and Who Was Betsy Bolivar?
Sometimes inspiration strikes in strange ways. Take this week’s blog post, for example: while conducting a simple search in the Baylor University Libraries Digital Collections for terms related to the new year – New Year, January, cold as a well digger’s elbow, etc. – I came across a piece from the Spencer Collection of American…
A New Year, A Major New Collection: “The Baptist Argus” Project Completed, Available Online
Welcome to a new year of digital collections excellence here at the Baylor University Libraries Digital Collections Blog. We’re kicking off 2015 by announcing the completion of a multi-year project: The Baptist Argus / The Baptist World newspaper collection! Through a partnership with the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, we are pleased to…
An Open Letter to Darius Rucker Re: The Black Gospel Music Restoration Project
Dear Mr. Rucker, Allow us to introduce ourselves. We are the Digital Projects Group, five dedicated professionals in the world of digital collections in academia, specifically Baylor University in Waco, Texas. You probably don’t know who we are, but we know you’re familiar with Baylor: you and your buddies in Hootie and the Blowfish played…
Revisiting a ‘Miracle’ Forty Years Later: The 1974 Baylor vs. UT Game in Pictures and Video
This year marks a major milestone in the history of the Baylor Bears football team: the 40th anniversary of the “Miracle on the Brazos,” a stunning victory over the University of Texas on November 9, 1974. In celebration of that fact, legendary head coach Grant Teaff is hosting a reunion of the 1974 team on…
45 Years Later, “Pride And Sacrifice” Film Finds New Home in Digital Archive
A film shot and distributed by Baylor University’s Public Relations arm in 1969 has found a new home in the Baylor University Archives digital collection, and watching it is like taking a time machine back to a land of coeds in mini skirts, a campus teeming with vintage cars and a newly opened Moody Memorial…
Behind The Image: Crowdsourcing A Mystery Graphic
From time to time, materials cross our desks that we just don’t have much information on, and we like to turn to you, our readers, for help. The above image is one such example, and we hope there’s at least one of you out there who could help us shed a little light on this…
When The Day’s Work Is Done: The George W. Truett Sermons Project, Complete
If you’re a loyal reader of this blog, you’ll no doubt remember that we’ve been talking about the George W. Truett Sermons project for quite some time. From their original arrival in late 2012 to an exploration of the story behind their original recording and broadcast via a Mexican “border blaster” radio station, we’ve…
Browning Day 2014
Several members of the DPG team were privileged to present at the Armstrong Browning Library’s annual Browning Day celebration this week. The event, held on Robert Browning’s birthday every year, celebrates the life, legacy and impact of the poet’s work and features receptions, guest speakers and more. Assistant Director Darryl Stuhr and Curator of Digital…
Unheard for 100 Years No Longer: A Graduate Student Adds Audio to Selections from the Spencer Collection
For the past two semesters, the DPG has been working with Baylor University Museum Studies graduate student Hannah Haney Lovell on her graduate project, which involved adding a batch of new items to the Frances G. Spencer Collection of American Popular Sheet Music and enhancing them with recorded audio versions of those pieces. Last Friday,…