The Belfer Audio Archives was founded in 1963 when Syracuse University purchased the Joseph and Max Bell collection of 150,000 sound records for $100,000. Under the leadership of Walter Welch from 1963 to 1991, the archive grew significantly. In 1982, the Belfer Audio Laboratory and Archive opened, featuring retrofitted spaces for the collections, offices, and a recording studio with dual control rooms built specifically for analog rerecording of cylinders and discs on original phonographs.