What happens to your trash when you throw it out? It’s my bet that most of us don’t think twice about throwing out an out-of-date fishing license or our old hotel rewards cards.
It seems that some very personal items of this nature have shown up in Carter family memorabilia that that Virginia Tech plans to put on display – and family members are questioning where these things came from. Some of the items are obviously materials that were meant to be public, like autographed books and such.
Shucks, I have a number of items that June Carter-Cash signed for me. I’ve even got items signed by Johnny Cash’s mother. But how would one’s fishing license get public? My first thought is through the trash collector… Anyway, it’s an interesting story, written by Sonny Bunch and posted at the Washington Times website. A teaser follows.
By the way, I do know that Johnny Cash had an avid interest in his family history, confirmed to me personally in 1991 by both his wife, June Carter-Cash, and his sister, Joanne Cash-Yates.
Heirs to the “first family of country music” are raising questions about several items in a cache of Carter Family memorabilia acquired this summer by Virginia Tech, but university officials are refusing to say who sold them the articles.
The treasure trove, scheduled to go on display soon at the university library’s Special Collections department, includes such personal items as Maybelle Carter’s hunting and fishing license and her Holiday Inn “Inner Circle” card.
There are also items from singer Johnny Cash – who married into the Carter family when he wedded Maybelle’s daughter June in 1968 – but the exhibition will center on the Carter Family, a touring band of “hillbilly” musicians who came to be known as the “first family of country music” in the 1920s and ’30s.
Virginia Tech announced this week that it had acquired the material over the past four months, but turned down repeated requests to identify the seller, citing a standing university policy.
Lorrie Carter Bennett – granddaughter of Maybelle and niece of June – told The Washington Times that she did not know who sold the materials and said the family was eager to know whether some of the more personal pieces were acquired appropriately.
Read the full article by Sonny Bunch and posted at the Washington Times website.
