Dolly Parton’s Nashville museum displays rare photos of her and late husband Carl Dean

Dolly Parton and her late husband Carl Dean are being remembered through never-before-seen photographs displayed at her new Nashville museum, offering fans a rare glimpse of the famously private couple.

The photo-booth strip shows a younger Dolly and Carl pulling funny faces for the camera.

The images were discovered inside an old military trunk that had belonged to Dean during his time in the National Guard.

Photo: Dolly Parton’s Life of Many Colors Museum

Dolly’s niece, Rebecca Seaver, said her aunt had not seen the photographs since they were taken. Seaver told Vogue, “Dolly had not even seen it since it was taken, so she was absolutely floored when we found it.”

The trunk also contained Dolly’s simple white wedding dress from her 1966 marriage to Carl, along with her veil, the Bible she carried instead of a bouquet and a letter from the pastor who married them.

The items are now part of Dolly’s Life of Many Colors Museum, which opened on September 29 on the third floor of her SongTeller Hotel in downtown Nashville.

Dolly and Carl first met outside Nashville’s Wishy Washy Laundromat in 1964 and married two years later in Ringgold, Georgia. They remained together for almost 60 years.

Discussing their marriage with Barbara Walters, Dolly said, “Well, I need freedom. The man gives me freedom,” adding, “But he has the same freedom.”

Dean died in March 2025 aged 82, while Dolly died in August 2026 aged 80, before the completed museum opened to visitors.