![\"Baylor](\"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/gospel-feb19.jpg\")
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Since 2008, a \u201csearch and rescue mission\u201d has been underway in the basement of Moody Library<\/a>. A true labor of love, this work has found its way into dusty tape and record collections, made friends with unsung heroes of the civil rights movement, been featured extensively in national media, and even has a home in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n We\u2019re talking about Baylor’s Black Gospel Music Restoration Project<\/a>, a collection dedicated to preserving historic sounds that were in danger of being lost for good: classic black gospel music from the \u201cGolden Age of Gospel.\u201d<\/a> This hidden Baylor gem ensures that the music that provided the soundtrack to the civil rights movement and blessed listeners for generations avoids extinction. So far, more than 2,000 rare pieces have been loaned or donated to the project.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how it came to be: Baylor journalism professor\u00a0Bob Darden<\/a>, BSEd \u201976, is a lifelong fan of black gospel music. He\u2019s written three seminal books on the history and impact of the music<\/a>, and in his research for those books, he developed a burden.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you talk to participants in the civil rights marches,\u201d Darden told the Washington Post<\/em><\/a>, \u201cwhat they want to talk about is the music.\u201d But time was beginning to threaten the preservation of that music, much of which was on old records and tapes. Records could warp, and tapes could be easily lost; without someone to care for it, much of the music would be gone forever.<\/p>\n