The entire collection of professional memorabilia documenting the stellar career of Tammy Wynette has arrived at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Items include stage costumes and a crate of awards.
Among the framed letters and notes are messages from some U.S. presidents. There's also a lyric sheet for A Woman's Needs, a song Tammy recorded with Elton. The autograph reads: "The Queen of Country Meets the Queen of England. Love you, Elton John."
Museum Director Kyle Young observed:
"Like many of her peers in the Country Music Hall of Fame, she overcame the limitations of an impoverished rural childhood to become one of America's defining cultural icons.
"These relics and accoutrements of her career are important touchstones worthy of study and interpretation, and that's why we are so grateful to see them arrive here. We expect to have many of them on exhibit before the end of this year."
''The First Lady of country music'' was 55 when she died in April 1998.
She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later that year.
