The museum’s Elmer Williams Collection launches the collaboration, with 3,000 images, most previously unpublished. From 1952 to 1962, Williams was one of the busiest country music photographers in Nashville, using his Busch Pressman 4x5 inch camera to capture candid photos at music industry events and backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. The friendships he developed with the famous country artists of the time enabled Williams to capture unique moments and perspectives, including Johnny Cash in his first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry in 1956 and the Everly Brothers in their 1957 Opry debut.
“This remarkable collection preserves iconic moments in country music history, including unseen images of Johnny Cash, Ray Price, Grandpa Jones, Minnie Pearl, Marty Robbins, Kitty Wells, and more,” said Bob Ahern, Director, Archive Photography, at Getty Images. “We are thrilled to partner with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to enrich our comprehensive archival image offerings with this exceptional gallery.”
Partnership Will Help Fund Museum’s Ongoing Digitization Effort and Raise Awareness of Massive 2.5 Million Artifacts in Collection
“The Elmer Williams Collection offers a right-place, right-time view into the sweet spot of country music’s classic period from the early ’50s to the early ’60s. The photos were added to the museum’s collection in the 1990s, and we’re excited to finally share these images as part of an ongoing effort to provide access to the unduplicated collection and to fund the museum’s massive archival digitization project,” said museum CEO Kyle Young.
In addition to the partnership with Getty Images, the expansive digitization project has been kick-started by over $600,000 in leadership grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services and the GRAMMY Foundation, among others. This funding allows five full-time staff members to work on the analog-to- digital conversion, creating preservation and access files and metadata to create an online searchable database for scholars. The project aims to digitize more than 100,000 items in the collection by 2024.
Pictured: Minnie Pearl performs on the Grand Ole Opry. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Elmer Williams Collection is available here.
Over five decades, the museum has amassed a collection of 2.5 million artifacts, the finest and most complete collection of its kind in the world. The treasured cache includes thousands of recorded discs, historical photographs, films and videotapes, posters, books, songbooks, periodicals and sheet music and hundreds of audio tapes that provides the foundation for the museum’s educational mission and serves as the basis for exhibits and programs that serve nearly one million annual visitors. The museum continues to add to its collection and serves journalists, educators, students, fans and the music industry by documenting country music’s past and present and providing resources to research and address the genres ongoing themes and the cultures and subcultures that cultivate this musical style.
The Collection by the Numbers:
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Elmer Williams Collection is available on www.gettyimages.com and can be viewed here.
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