The childhood home of Nina Simone, Civil Rights icon and revolutionary musician and singer, was named a National Treasure today by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The National Trust will bring its nearly 70 years of expertise to develop and implement a new use for this now-vacant and deteriorating yet nationally-significant property, purchased recently by four African American artists to maintain Simone’s legacy. This campaign will be undertaken through the National Trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, an initiative with the Ford Foundation and actress Phylicia Rashad to uncover and uplift stories of African American achievement, activism, and community.

“Nina Simone’s distinctive voice and social critique in the mid-20^th century was unlike anything America had ever heard before,” said Stephanie Meeks, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “And while her musical and social justice legacy burns bright, her childhood home has been neglected. We’re delighted to work with the home’s new owners and the local community to chart a new future for the property that will honor her tremendous contributions to American society and inspire new generations of artists and activists to engage with her legacy.”

Born Eunice Waymon in 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina, it was here she taught herself the piano at age 3, performed in public for the first time at the neighborhood church where her mother preached, and where she experienced the constraints placed on black females in the rural Jim Crow South—a theme that would deeply inform her music and political activism. In recent years, the three-room, 660-square foot clapboard pier and beam house had fallen in disrepair. The vacant property was put on the market in 2016. Alarmed by the condition of the home and the risk of losing this connection to Nina Simone entirely, four African American visual artists—conceptual artist and painter Adam Pendleton, the sculptor and painter Rashid Johnson, the collagist and filmmaker Ellen Gallagher, and the abstract painter Julie Mehretu—purchased the property in 2017.

“Last year, my fellow artists and I felt an urgent need to rescue Nina Simone’s childhood home—a need sprung from a place of political activism as well as civic duty,” said artist Adam Pendleton. “A figure like Nina Simone—an African American woman from a small town in North Carolina who became the musical voice of the Civil Rights Movement—is extraordinarily relevant to artists working today. She constantly expressed her commitment to the democratic values our country espouses by demanding that we live up to them. We are honored to partner with the National Trust to further protect her legacy.”

Working in partnership with the property owners, the local community, the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission, and World Monuments Fund, the National Trust will seek new protections, evaluate preservation needs, and conduct market and feasibility studies to develop a sustainable new use for the home that was once a symbol of Simone’s parents’ middle-class success.

“The artistic and social impacts of Nina Simone reach every corner of the world, and her birthplace is an important symbol of that legacy,” said Joshua David, president and CEO, World Monuments Fund. “We are proud to join forces with the National Trust and other partners to underscore the global cultural significance of the Nina Simone House and help ensure it can become a beacon for future generations.”

“Standing for something one believes in often requires great courage in the face of harsh criticism and judgement,” said her daughter, Lisa Simone. “My mother chose to be an outspoken warrior for that which she believed in. Her birthplace now being named a National Treasure is confirmation that no effort put forth, with true authenticity, goes unnoticed. As her only child, it brings me great joy to see my mother, Dr. Nina Simone, honored and remembered as mightily as she lived.”

The National Treasure dedication will be celebrated in Tryon, North Carolina on June 19, featuring guided tours of the home, remarks by representatives from the Trust and the ownership group, and culminating with a free live concert. More information can be found at: https://celebratenina.eventbrite.com.

High level images may be downloaded here: https://nthp.widencollective.com/c/iii6sxhg?t=sftbuofw

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About the National Treasures Program

The National Trust for Historic Preservation mobilizes its nearly 70 years of expertise and resources to protect a growing portfolio of National Treasures that are threatened buildings; neighborhoods, communities, and landscapes that stand at risk across the country. Our National Treasures program demonstrates the value of preservation by taking direct action to protect these places and promote their history and significance.

About the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is a multi-year initiative led by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in partnership with the Ford Foundation, The JPB Foundation, the Open Society Foundations and other partners, working to make an important and lasting contribution to our cultural landscape by elevating the stories and places of African American achievement and activism.

About Nina Simone

Nina Simone’s prodigious talent was recognized early, and buoyed by a community-supported scholarship fund and the encouragement of her parents, she attended a private high school in Asheville, New York’s Julliard School of Music for a summer after that, and then set her sights on becoming the country’s first black concert pianist. That dream died with her rejection from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia—a decision she attributed to racism and which she said she never got over. She turned to performing under a stage name in an Atlantic City nightclub out of economic necessity in 1954. The manager demanded she sing, and the career of Nina Simone was born, fueled by a lifelong desire to prove her worth and speak her mind. Her frank expressions of racial and gender discrimination in songs like “Mississippi Goddam” and “Backlash Blues” served as the soundtrack of the Civil Rights Movement and drew her into a powerful circle of leaders including Dr. Martin Luther King, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin and Langston Hughes. Simone’s career spanned four decades, multiple genres, several continents, and earned 15 Grammy nominations. Today her work and words are as relevant as ever. Her songs have been professionally covered and sampled more than 500 times and Simone was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.