Johnny Cash

On Thursday, April 25th, the new Johnny Cash Museum opened for a private viewing. The new facility includes contributions from fans, artifacts taken from other museums, a collection from a man named Bill Miller and some items from the old House of Cash Museum in Hendersonville, TN.

Fans can expect to enter and depart through the gift shop, with the first stop in being the Dyess, AR section of the museum. This section spotlights Cash's childhood, including family photos , his Sears guitar, childhood toys, and the family's wooden radio. Also found in this portion is a case displaying the instruments of The Tennessee Three.

The next section boasts Cash's Air Force years. Here fans can find his uniform, service papers and transmitter. What is interesting about these items is that many of them have never been seen by the public before.

Johnny's J-200 Gibson guitar, as well as collectible 45 r.p.m. and 78 r.p.m. records, are found in the Memphis/Sun Records section.

Moving on, the San Quentin exhibit tells the story of recordings Cash made at prison concerts. This portion includes jailhouse tin cups, a set list, guard badges, a cell door, the lyrics to "Folsom Prison Blues," as well as the Grammy Award that resulted.

Up next, the section from where Cash gets his "Man In Black" nickname arrives. This is a section spotlighting his 1960s "Man in Black" suit and his first pair of custom-made leather boots. Johnny and June Carter's wedding license is also in this section, along with posters, letters, lyrics and manuscripts.

A wall of Gold and Platinum records can also be found in the Museum. In front of them are Cash's CMA Awards in individual display cases. A video room is also present, boasting patriotism, posters from films, costumes and hats.

The museum also contains antique furniture from Johnny and June's home. The old sign from the House of Cash museum is there as well. Many more artifacts from Cash's life and career are also present.

The Grand Opening will be in June, coordinating with the Wednesday, June 5th release of The Johnny Cash and CMA Music Festival tourism in Nashville.

By Jaclyn Carter

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