Welcome to the
Friends of the Carter Family Fold Forum
Friends Statement on the Carter Fold Tape Collection
March 25, 2008
On December 15, 2007, Dale Jett was expelled from the board of directors of the Carter Family Fold.
One month later, January 15, 2008, the president of the board, Howard Klein, in a front-page article in the Bristol Herald Courier, cited Dale’s signing of an agreement with UNC, Chapel Hill, for the preservation of nearly 1500 hours of Carter Fold concert recordings as the main reason for the board’s actions. The rest of his statements were broad generalizations, without citing specific reasons.
“This began as a project to find the best way to preserve 30 years of tape recordings from the Fold. I don’t know when it changed into giving the collection away,” Klein said. “The board never knew about this.” …“He [Dale] may have thought those were his tapes”
On April 15, 2007, after five years of carefully considering all options, Dale Jett, then vice-president of the board of directors of the Carter Family Memorial Music Center Inc., signed an agreement with the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina to begin the preservation of badly deteriorating tapes of years of music concerts at the Carter Fold. This decision to find an institution that could catalogue and preserve the hundreds of hours of historical and culturally important music was done with the full
knowledge and participation of board members Janette Carter, Dale Jett, Rita Forrester, and Daryl Jayne. Maxine Kenny was hired by the Fold to gather the recordings and worked under a grant funded by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. The official minutes of the CFMMC board reveal that Dale Jett reported on the progress of the work at regularly scheduled board meetings in April 2006 and June 2007. In short, Dale thought that he was acting with the full knowledge of the board, as it was configured, when he followed through and finished work started by board president and Director of the Carter Memorial Music Center, Janette Carter, long before her death in January 2006. (Note: Howard Klein was elected president of CFMMC in June 2007)
The Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of the premier American folk-life collections in the world, second only to the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institute Archives in Washington, D.C. The Southern Folklife Collection traces its beginning to the start of the UNC folklore program in 1940 and already has a large and hugely important Carter Family collection, one put together long before the discussion for these tapes began. These collections were assembled a generation before any college or university in our region had any interest in such materials, and the SFC literally has a 50-year head start in expertise, equipment and finances to assemble and preserve such materials.
Moreover, the Southern Folklife Collection at UNC is well on its way to becoming the most accessible collection in the nation by putting the collections it holds online, so anyone with a computer will be able to gain quick access. Once the Carter Fold tapes are catalogued and copied, a process that could cost as much as $500,000, UNC will make CD copies of all the materials and give them back to the Carter Fold in a form that will not deteriorate over the years, as the tapes are now doing. Simply put, Dale went to the best possible place to find a resourceful and committed partner in preserving this important collection.
Instead of crediting Dale for his good work, the CFFMC board has stated publicly their intent not to honor the agreement made with SFC, and the board president has asked that the tapes be returned. In addition, the board chair has stated that Dale’s action to preserve the tapes at UNC is the primary reason that the board took the extraordinary action to vote for his removal from the board and remove him from the financial and artistic decisions regarding the Carter Family Memorial Music Center
To say that Dale Jett "gifted the tape collection" is not an accurate account of the agreement that Dale, acting for the Carter Family, entered into between the UNC Southern Folklife Collection and the Carter Fold. The word "gift" is standard language in such agreements and simply means that UNC did not have to pay for the tapes, and considering that they are willing to commit an estimated $500,000 for the cataloguing and preservation of these tapes in a stable CD form, it is hard to question UNC’s commitment and high regard for the materials.
Once the cataloguing and copying is done, the Southern Folklife Collection will give the CFFMC copies of all the CD’s. Even though the archives will be open for any scholar, musician, student, or any other interested person to listen to and use as research material, no one will be allowed to use the Carter collection for any profit-making venture without the written consent of the CFFMC board.
Dale Jett went to great lengths to preserve these tapes, investing years of careful deliberation. He listened to the advice of folk-life and folk-music scholars, archivists, educators of national renown, and made every effort to follow his mother’s wishes. It seems that the reaction of the board to his efforts is not fairly grounded, and certainly one would not consider the severe action of removing him from the board as a reasonable or just consequence.
Maybe there are unanswered questions regarding Dale Jett’s removal from the board, and maybe there are hidden agendas, but it seems clear to anyone who is interested in pursuing the truth that it is not Dale Jett who has tried to hide his actions.
Dale Jett to Carter Fold Board of Directors
Letter, December 5, 2007
“I take responsibility for making the final decision to gift the archives to a donor, as opposed to making a loan agreement, or keeping the tapes. All decisions, however, were based on the advice and guidance of advisors to the grant, consultants, scholars, and other institutions as specified in the grant. Phase 2 of the grant was based on this in-depth research. Time and funding was also a factor that had to be considered in the decision of making an agreement with a donor institution and was also part of the research. The decision to partner with UNC was also based on extensive research, consultation , and review of other similar organizations for comparison.
“I signed the gift agreement with UNC as an agent of the Fold (click here to read complete document), I believe, in accordance with the by-laws of the CFMMC, original grant proposal and subsequent guidelines of the grant, and in keeping with the board’s position at the time the agreement was made. At no time was this agreement kept hidden from other board members or information withheld. The acting director was informed through written reports, verbal updates, and by approval of payment for expenditures; board members were involved in the grant process, and there were no objections made when reports were presented at the board meetings (until the Nov.17th meeting)….
“If I did not have the right or authority to make the gift agreement without the full board’s vote or consent, then I feel that neither did our current president, Howard Klein, have the right to invalidate or rescind an agreement that was made during a time period that he was not an acting board member or have the full board’s consent or knowledge in contacting the agencies involved, stating the agreement was invalid, and requesting the return of the tapes (see email enclosures).
“You can blame and accuse me of not following proper procedures and vote me off the board, but I remain resolute in my belief that I made the right decisions and will continue to uphold those whether you vote me off or not. It still does not solve the problem that has occurred.
“I believe a logical solution to this dilemma would be for the board to endorse the current gift agreement with UNC, thereby eliminating any concern or issues of legalities, and continue the process of the tape preservation without causing further danger to the archive.
“ I’m quite sure that if we went back and scrutinized every action that has been taken by each board member, we would find many discrepancies and yes, illegalities. I have also been blamed for creating faction within the board. I have tried to keep personal issues out of our board meetings and conduct business with the Fold’s best interests at heart. I don’t believe that constitutes the right to use intimidation tactics and dismissal.
Respectfully, Dale Jett” (Click here to read full text.)
Letters from Archivists to Carter Fold Board of Directors
March 21-24, 2008
“The Southern Folklife Collection is one of the two most important collections nationally of country music (the other being the Country Music Hall of Fame). They have a dedicated staff and good facilities to digitize materials. They have also been important on innovative techniques for recovering damaged tape….It’s an international destination for music scholars. It makes perfect sense for a set to be there, there is no other regional repository in your area with that kind of international prominence.
“The most important thing is these be copied soon, in some cases it is probably too late….The long term home for the cassettes and DATs is really irrelevant in the long run. They won’t exist as playable items in a short while. Their importance is as a home for the audio information now until it can be transferred. If UNC has offered to make these copies for the Carter Fold at no cost that is a very expensive and highly valuable gift. Above all else you need to get these tapes copied now and if not UNC then to raise the money or find someone else willing to cover the cost.” (Click here to read full text.)
– Jeff Place is Head Archivist at the Ralph Rinzler Archives and Collections,
Smithsonian Institution
***
“As an archivist with great respect for both the Carter Fold and the Southern Folklife Collection at University of North Carolina, I would urge you to continue a partnership with the UNC archives in the interest of the longevity of your audio collection. This partnership would allow for the care of this fragile original media, and allow for the copying of it onto formats with greater longevity, while keeping the rights of the material in the heart of the Carter Fold where they belong.
“As an artist, I know firsthand that it is a very difficult decision to trust an institution with objects that are highly personal. Yet, every day in my 7 1/2 years as an archivist, I have seen the evidence of the fragility of recorded media. Even in conditions that are comfortable for human beings, audio-visual materials suffer and are subject to vast decreases in their longevity. With all of this material, time is of the essence. A great amount of infrastructure (including environmentally controlled vaults, new casings, special equipment for playback and inspection, etc.) must already be in place before this longevity can be increased. And even when the original object lasts, it takes a trained staff and an even greater expense and amount of infrastructure to clean, catalog, and transfer such material so that its content can be made available. Such a task is great, but certainly not impossible.” (Click here to read full text.)
– Kelli Shay Hix is Moving Image Archivist at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville TN
***
“For small organizations like the Carter Family Fold, the burden of in-house preservation is too much to shoulder, as this work requires professional sound restoration equipment, a robust computing environment, proper climate-controlled storage, and staff to administer the entire preservation operation. In my opinion, the Fold made a very wise choice in partnering with an established collection with a proven track record of responsibly preserving and making publicly accessible regional recorded sound heritage materials, housed within a university that had the infrastructure to support this work in all its complexities….
“I was very concerned to learn that, recently, the Fold’s Board decided to rescind its agreement with the Southern Folklife Collection and request that the recordings that had been transferred to the institution be returned. I understand that part of the motivation in so doing was a desire to manage the restoration of the music at the Fold itself. I would strongly ask you to reconsider this decision. The costs of building and staffing an appropriate facility would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and personally, I think that these precious funds could be spent much more wisely in doing what the Carter Family Fold does best: showcasing talented old-time country and folk artists in one of the most beautiful venues around….I truly hope that you will re-evaluate your relationship with the Southern Folklife Collection and reach some sort of compromise that will allow the preservation of these recordings to advance in a responsible and cost-effective manner with the help of this trusted partner institution.” (Click here to read full text.)
– Sarah Ziebell, Certified Archivist, teaches in New York University’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program and works as consultant and lecturer in the area of collection management
***
“…The board’s request for the return of the donated and endangered Fold tapes from the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina was indeed a shock. It seems that the Carter Family Fold would be missing a golden opportunity in asking for these tapes to be returned. The Board has been given the deal of a lifetime, but appear unwilling, or unable, to accept it. Very few archives would offer to preserve and store such a large collection of material at no cost[his emphasis] to the Carter Fold….
“What does the Carter Family Fold stand to lose if the recordings stay at UNC? Good question. On the other hand, what would the Carter Fold gain if the material stays at UNC? Preserved digital masters at no cost, top-notch preservation work by a respected, trustworthy, and qualified professional, and free and clear copyright ownership, to name a few. Whatever plans are in the works by the board for this material, it is likely that the material could sit and languish in a vault for a number of years before another opportunity for preservation arises. By then it may be too late. The board should take advantage of this offer for a speedy and free preservation of the Carter Fold tapes.”(Click here to read full text.)
– Bradley Reeves, Media Archivist, is Co-Director, Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound, Knoxville TN
Carter Family Letter to the Carter Family Memorial Music Center Board of Directors
February 18, 2008
| Howard Klein | Dr. Joe Frank Smiddy | Rita Forrester |
| Vicki Virts | James Bryant | Dixie Hall |
| Patricia Windrow Klein | Raymond McClain |
People outside of Scott County Virginia tend to forget that when you say the name “Carter Family”, you are speaking about more than the Original Carter Family – A.P., Sara, and Maybelle. Poor Valley is full of their descendants. The legacy of the Carter Family touches us all in ways that people outside the Family can never know.
That is why we are so distressed by the recent events in which you voted Dale Jett off the board of the Carter Family Memorial Music Center. We know that Janette would not have condoned your actions or abstained from defending his place on the board. She would have been in tears, as we are, to see this kind of discord take place at the Carter Family Fold. We know how important the word “family” was to Janette in creating and sustaining this memorial to her father, mother, and aunt. She enfolded her family within its structure; she didn’t turn them away.
(Janette Carter and son, Dale Jett)
The Carter Fold is an extension of our family; it is our collective “homeplace”. The Carter Fold is a non-profit organization, but it has been a “family” effort from the beginning. The hands of the Carters built it, and many family members have helped in various ways from carpentry work to helping out on Saturday nights. Not only have we lent our time, but we have lent our resources and properties as well.
The board of directors used to have several Carter family members representing it. Since Janette’s death, you have eliminated two of the three remaining family members. There is only one voice left, and we do not feel that one voice can adequately represent the vested interest of our family or community. Our voice is quickly becoming diminished. The president of the Fold now has more of his family representing the Fold than the Carter Family does.
It is ultimately the legacy of the Carter Family voices that have had such an impact on the world, and that has filled the Fold with song. Dale Jett continued that legacy at the Fold by singing those songs and welcoming people in to the Fold as his mother did before him. When you decided to silence his voice on the board of directors, you also silenced his songs at the Fold.
We ask you, the Board of Directors, to reconsider the decision to remove Dale Jett. We also ask for you to find ways to strengthen the Fold, not weaken it. Instead of diminishing the Carter Family voice, perhaps you should increase the number of family members on the board.
Signed:
| Mark Carter | Sue Hensley | Joy Eldreth |
| Debbie Buckle | Ann Buckle | Jerry Hensley |
| Pattie Steen Hensley | Phyllis Arnold | Phil Salyer |
| Tammy Salyer | Cody Salyer | Beth Carter Kegley |
| Frankie Kegley | Roger A. Carter | Edna K. Carter |
| Dewanna W. Cross | Yolanda W. Burke | Mark Wolfe |
Isaac Salyer (great,great nephew of A.P.Carter)
Lauren Salyer (great,great niece of A.P.Carter)
Shane Salyer (grandson of Ermine Carter)
Marcus Salyer (great-grandson of Ermine Carter)
Fern Salyer (niece of A.P. Sara and Maybelle Carter and first-cousin of Janette)
Sent via U.S. Mail, February 18, 2008
Dale Jett's Absence from the Fold
(This statement appears on the Carter Family Fold website as the explanation of Dale Jett’s absence from the stage of the Fold. Clearly, the letter from the board president asking for his resignation with “non-negotiable” terms in order for him to continue at the Fold came on December 3rd, 2007!)
Dale Jett resigned as the emcee and regularly performing artist at the Carter Fold's weekly shows on December 8, 2007. The board voted to remove him as a director at a later date. He had long been an admired artist and was closely identified with the weekly shows. His absence from the stage is keenly felt by us all.
A group calling itself the "Friends of the Fold" now falsely claims that Dale was fired from the Fold's stage. But Dale was never asked to leave the stage. Removing Janette Carter's son would be unthinkable. To the contrary, he was urged to continue to share his artistry with the public at the weekly shows and the annual festivals. He declined to do so.
In newspaper ads and on a website, these so-called "Friends" distort the facts of Dale's quitting the stage, and in doing so they unfairly malign the Carter Fold. This group is not affiliated in any way with the Carter Fold, and is acting entirely on its own. The public should be aware that any support or contribution to that group will in no way benefit the Carter Fold.
We continue to regret Dale's having quit our stage. But in the interest of truth, we must state the facts as they are. We all wish Dale the best.
Above all, the board is dedicated to and will unceasingly continue to perpetuate the heritage Janette Carter established of providing a venue for the best in Old-Time Appalachian acoustical music performances, in a family atmosphere, at a price affordable to all. (Posted on the Newspage of the Carter Family Fold website.)
Excerpt from Dale Jett's Statement to the Board
December 15, 2007
"The ‘board majority’ is apparently accusing me of creating a faction on the board. You can easily blame me and vote me off, but your problems will still exist. I didn’t create them; I just pointed some of them out. It is ultimately your choice in how you deal with them.
In your ‘non-negotiable offer’ you wanted me to agree to refrain from taking any action that would harm the Fold or its board members. I am first, a member of the Carter Family. The Carter Fold does not supersede the heritage of my family, nor does it have the privilege of being the sole representative of my family. I would do less to honor my mother and my family heritage by covering up wrong doing or using the Fold to shield myself, rather than acting with honesty and integrity. That is non-negotiable.”
(Taken from Dale Jett’s statement to the CFFMC board moments before they voted to
remove him, Dec. 15 2007.)
Dale Jett
(In spite of the “non-negotiable” offer from the CFMMC board president, Dale went on Dec.8 to welcome the audience and to sing as “a member of the Carter Family”, on the Carter Fold stage where he had sung so many times with his mother, Janette. He still believed, given his thirty-year history with the Carter Fold, the CFMMC board would never vote to remove him.
In spite of his refusal to accept any terms of the “non-negotiable” offer to resign, he found that a substitute host had already been asked to replace him.
On Dec. 15, he was voted off the board of the CFFMC.)
Dale's Response to the Non-Negotiable Offer
December 5, 2007
From:
Dale Jett [mailto:djett@take-aim-inc.com]
Sent:
Wednesday, December 05, 2007 4:26 PM
To:
howard klein
Cc:
Bryant James; Forrester Rita; Hall Dixie; McLain Raymond; Smiddy
Joseph; Virts Vicki; Waldo Joseph
Subject:
Re: Board Membership
I received your email dated Dec. 3, 2007. I will make my response as short as possible in regards to your "non-negotiable" offer.
- I respectfully reject your request to resign my position as vice president of the CFMMC. If the board chooses to vote me off, I believe the proper procedure would be for all board members to be presented with the specific reasons for voting me off and all board members be given the opportunity to vote.
- I respectfully decline your offer to name me “Senior Artistic Advisor” to CFMMC.
- I respectfully decline your offer to continue as a performing artist at the Fold's programs.
- As to your last "bullet", I don't believe that I have taken any actions to discredit or harm the CFMMC or its board members. I have tried to conduct myself in a professional and courteous manner in all board meetings, and I believe any concerns or comments, or actions that I have taken were made with the Fold's wellbeing and reputation in mind and were completely true and honest. I will, in the future, respond to any actions as a result of my affiliation with the Fold with honesty and integrity.
I do not feel that you have given me any specific reasons or justifications for your requests, and thereby, haven't afforded me the opportunity to respond to them adequately. I believe that after 30 or more years of dedicated efforts to the Fold and my mother's endeavors that I should be given the courtesy of being addressed in person, at a full board meeting. I do not have anything to be embarrassed about or ashamed of. If you can live with your conscience, I can live with the embarrassment that will, ultimately, be yours.
I am sending out packets to all board members, as well as Joseph Waldo, in regards to the VFH/UNC gift agreement for review and future reference, via registered mail. I fully stand by my actions regarding the matter.
Non-Negotiable Offer Calling for Resignation
December 3, 2007
From: howard klein [mailto:howiebear1@embarqmail.com]
Sent:
Mon 12/3/2007 2:41 PM
To:
Jett Dale; Theresa Jett
Cc:
Bryant James; Forrester Rita; Hall Dixie; McLain Raymond; Smiddy
Joseph; Virts Vicki; Waldo Joseph
Subject:
Re: Board Membership
Dear Dale:
The sole concern of the Board of Directors of the Carter Family Memorial Music Center, Inc., is the good of the organization, its welfare and survival. This supersedes all other concerns.
A majority of the Board has instructed me to tell you of their deep and irreversible conviction that they no longer wish to go on as a divided and contentious Board. To do so will be contrary to their responsibility; it will seriously weaken the CFMMC by causing the loss of valued current members, it will make it impossible to attract new members of high quality, and thereby prevent future growth and progress.
In order to avoid these consequences, they have directed me to write you as I am now doing. They wish me to assure you that individually and as a group each has both love and respect for you as a person and as an artist.
Recognizing your place in history as the son of Janette Carter and grandson of A. P. Carter, and as well as an artist in your own right, and not wishing to deny the public at the Fold access to your artistry and talents, they urge me to present you with the following non-negotiable offer:
To name you Senior Artistic Advisor to the CFMMC with the responsibility of working closely with the Acting Artistic Director, Raymond McLain, to recommend performing artists, and help in planning programs that carry out the mission of CFMMC
To encourage you as an artist to continue to perform at the Fold’s Saturday night and Festival programs
To resign your seat on the Board of Directors effective immediately
To refrain from any actions whatsoever that would harm the CFMMC or discredit its reputation or that of its Board members
The members of the Board sincerely hope that you will accept their offer. Please make your decision immediately so we may avoid the inevitable embarrassment that would follow a vote to expel, which the majority of the board is fully prepared to do should you reject this offer.
Please give me your decision no later than Thursday, December 6, 2007.
Respectfully
yours
Howard
Klein
President