Va. college’s plan to sell Ford archives blocked
BRISTOL, Va. (AP) – The president of the Bristol Historical Association says a Virginia college has been told it cannot sell the late Tennessee Ernie Ford’s musical archives.
Tim Buchanan tells the Bristol Herald Courier (http://bit.ly/1i0jUoy ) that an attorney for the Ford family sent financially struggling Virginia Intermont College a letter reciting the terms of the original agreement that the archives cannot be sold or transferred without approval from the late entertainer’s estate. The newspaper says a college official declined to comment.
Jim Tench is chairman of the board of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol. He says Virginia Intermont’s president offered the collection for sale, and the museum made an offer that was declined.
Ford is best known for the 1955 country and pop hit “Sixteen Tons.”
