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Nashville, Tenn. (July 22, 2026) – Johnny Cash is one of the most important, influential, and respected artists in the history of recorded music. And now a collection of his personal archives will find its permanent home at Belmont University, representing a historic partnership among the Cash family, the John R. Cash Revocable Trust and Belmont. The collection comes from Johnny’s children –– Rosanne Cash, Kathy Cash Tittle, Cindy Cash, Tara Cash Schwoebel and John Carter Cash –– and will anchor a new Johnny Cash Learning Center at the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business’s forthcoming Music Row building.
The $8.6 million acquisition was made possible in part through the generous support of Scott and Sandi Borchetta, Mike and Linda Curb and the Harper House Music Foundation.
“We are thrilled that our father’s archive has found a home at Belmont University. An enormous body of his work, including unpublished writings, will now be available for scholars and students to more intimately connect with the foundational elements of his artistry for years to come,” said the Cash family.
The Johnny Cash Learning Center will be designed as an academic and cultural hub, featuring spaces for archival research, digital and physical exhibits, and immersive educational programming integrated into Belmont’s curriculum. A secure reading room will allow appointment-based access for researchers, while an open digital collection will make archival materials available to the public online.
"Johnny Cash was one of the greatest storytellers in American music,” said Belmont University President Greg Jones. “At Belmont, his archives will bring those stories to life for students across every discipline. We are humbled that the Cash family chose us as the permanent home for this legacy, and deeply grateful to everyone who made it possible.”
The archives span Johnny’s life and career, encompassing personal correspondence with fellow artists, family, and public figures, and handwritten personal notes, thoughts, songs, and more. Belmont will undertake a digitization process to catalog and preserve this collection ahead of the Cash Learning Center's opening in the college's new Music Row facility. The effort will be led by Dr. Mary Ellen Pethel, who will serve as director of the Johnny Cash Learning Center, in partnership with Belmont University Special Collections.
“There is no parallel for what this means for our students and scholars,” said Brittany Schaffer, Dean, Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business. “Direct access to the personal papers and lyrics of one of the most important artists in American history is something most institutions can only dream of. The Johnny Cash Learning Center will be a place where his story is not just preserved but experienced.”
“As Trustee, it’s been an honor and pleasure to work with the family to find a home for this archive,” said Catherine Sullivan, John R. Cash Revocable Trust. “As a lifelong resident of Nashville, Tennessee, I’m proud to know that generations of Belmont students will be able to study Johnny’s legacy.”
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