Dolly Parton’s niece opens new museum to the public
by Juliet La Sala · The Washington TimesDolly Parton’s niece opened a new museum in Tennessee on Tuesday, displaying clothes, books, music and other items of the late country legend.
The 20,000-square-foot Life of Many Colors Museum occupies the third floor of Parton’s SongTeller Hotel in downtown Nashville, said Rebecca Seaver, Parton’s niece and museum curator.
“I’m so proud of it. I’m so excited. I’m so proud of her,” Ms. Seaver said of the ribbon-cutting ceremony in an interview with USA Today. “But it’s hard. She’s not here to open it.”
People were interested in these podcasts
Parton had been expected to cut the ribbon herself. She died in August after a battle with cancer at age 80.
Items on display include a favorite pearl dress, Parton’s “He’s Alive” dress, costumes from her feature films “9 to 5” and “Rhinestone,” all 52 of her studio albums, handwritten lyrics and a dulcimer she toured with in the 1970s and ’80s.
The museum tour is arranged chronologically, beginning Jan. 19, 1946, the night Parton was born during a winter storm, with a re-creation of her Tennessee mountain home. The cabin holds her father’s work boots and lunchbox and her mother’s pocket Bible.
Ms. Seaver said a favorite spot is a rocking chair beneath beams matched to the cabin’s originals.
An Imagination Library gallery for Parton’s book-gifting program holds the original books distributed when the program began, plus a toy train circling the room with a Dolly conductor doll aboard.
Advertisement Advertisement
Parton recorded videos for the museum this spring, nicknamed “Dollygrams,” that guide visitors, and filmed a concert for the tour finale featuring her iconic song “I Will Always Love You.” A box of Kleenex is available in the room for viewers.
Contact the author
Juliet La Sala
Follow author updates Follow Click to follow. Manage followed authors