Newfound negatives cast positive Elvis image.

Share this article

Graceland archivist Angie Marchese was cataloging receipts and other paperwork from Vernon Presley's Graceland office about two weeks ago when she found a manila envelope with three photo negatives. "Just when you think you've seen everything, all of a sudden there's something new," said Marchese. The negatives were photographs of Elvis Presley greeting fans at the newly installed gates of Graceland in 1957 while others literally climbed atop the walls for a better look.

"It was a more innocent time," said Marchese. "Celebrities today don't do that, but here's Elvis. He's 22 in the midst of his early stardom, and he's standing there talking to all of the fans."

No one knows who shot the photographs or the exact date, but the gates made their debut on April 26, 1957, before Elvis or his parents moved into Graceland. The house was being renovated before Vernon and Gladys Presley spent their first night there on May 16, 1957. Elvis, who was filming "Jailhouse Rock" at the time, didn't spend his first night at Graceland until June 26, 1957, but he visited while the work was in progress, says the archivist.

Each of the three photos is similar, but shot at slightly different angles. The last major find of unseen Elvis photos was in 2006 when another file cabinet in Vernon Presley's office yielded eight negatives of Elvis filling out paperwork for his 1958 Army induction. "Vernon never threw anything away," said Marchese, estimating his office may hold more than 1 million documents and receipts.

The three newly discovered photos were reproduced as 4-foot-by-4-foot posters to be installed today in the Elvis Lives Museum in the Graceland Plaza shopping complex. Marchese said there is no way to place a value on the photographs.

_{Source: Michael Lollar -Commercialappeal.com / EpGold}