В родном городе Нины Симонс завершено восстановление дома детства для создания исторического мемориала

Nina Simone's legacy of hope, activism celebrated in hometown of Tryon TRYON, N.C. (WLOS) — The iconic singer, pianist, lyricist and civil rights activist Nina Simone is being celebrated in Tryon with a groundbreaking project focused on her childhood home, now designated as a historic site. The home is not yet open, but the renovation is complete, and staff with the National Trust for Historic Preservation are working on programming, hoping to open the site in the next 12 months in collaboration with the National Trust's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. In a town where residents know her history, Nina Simone's first name is the only one needed on a huge exterior building wall mural to celebrate her. The musician's early life is historically significant not only for Simone, who died in 2003, but for Black families and children who grew up in the segregated South in the early to mid-twentieth century. Nina Simone was born in Polk County in 1933. Her birth certificate confirms she was born at home. But among eight brothers and sisters, only one sibling is still alive and in Tryon. Dr. Sam Waymon, Nina Simone's youngest brother, was very close to her. An award-winning film composer and accomplished musician in his own right, he showed us his parents' antique organ he cherishes. It's where he and his sister first learned chords. Their father played. Both his parents were ministers as well as holding other jobs. SINGER, ACTIVIST NINA SIMONE'S CHILDHOOD HOME IN TYRON, N.C. TO BE PRESERVED "If I pressed on these pedals, it made one sound," said Dr. Waymon. Waymon is happy to talk about and honor his sister. He has a poster from her New Year's Eve appearance at Carnegie Hall, which characterizes her as a special performer, calling her "The Amazing Nina Simone." Also in his home are paintings of his sister, and a New York Times article celebrating their mom, he said, was a wonderful, inspiring woman who loved her children deeply, along with their father. "It is surreal that it's received this kind of recognition. I'm honored by it," Dr. Waymon said of the National Trust's work to create attention and historic study around his family home. Nina only lived the first few years of her life in the home, and her brother made this point. "When she was living here, there was no fame. This is a place where we were brought up, that we cooked on a pot-bellied stove, you got to go to the outhouse, which is right there. That was our life. To have that interpreted as a meaningful historical content, it's beautiful," he said. Waymon explained that as a child watching his older sister, he could see her talent. "I was fascinated by the fact she could play on that big organ. And she practiced. Discipline, discipline, discipline," he said. MILLIONS RAISED THROUGH ONLINE AUCTION TO RESTORE NINA SIMONE'S CHILDHOOD HOME Waymon said both he and Nina saw and experienced racism in the community. But at the same time, Nina's story growing up in the east side community in Tryon includes support from white families that had money and contributed to making sure she had piano lessons. Ultimately, Simone, who was valedictorian of her Allen High School graduating class in Asheville, went on to the prestigious Juilliard School to continue her piano and musical training. "Nina Simone is an iconic artist who was forged by the times," said Melissa Jest, senior manager for preservation projects at the National Trust's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Jest is overseeing the project in Tryon. "She lived life at a time where Jim Crow was very much a part of American life." Jim Crow represented the fight of white Southerners to continue segregating Black people from society by saying that public facilities could be separate but equal. An early account of her visceral interest and demand for equality among races involved a young Eunice Waymon. Eunice was Nina's given name. A child prodigy, she gave a community piano recital at age 11. "Her parents were asked to move to the back, and a very young Eunice Waymon said, 'No, I'm not going to perform until my parents are returned to their seats at the front row,'" said Jest. It was her first act of activism. Her life was filled with a calling through action and songs she wrote to make her feelings known about the importance of equality. PRESERVATION WORK UNDERWAY TO RESTORE NINA SIMONE'S CHILDHOOD HOME IN POLK COUNTY Songs written by Simone include the empowering anthem "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" and "Mississippi Goddam," a direct response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, and the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. In Tryon, her childhood home's restoration is complete with a tin roof and small touches like an exterior bottle opener for Coca-Cola. Tours and educational programming are still being formulated. Her brother is proud of the work and those involved in restoring it, including the four black artists who, years ago, bought the home that was at risk of demolition, feeling the home should be saved and become a landmark. Dr. Wayman welcomes anyone once the home is officially open to the public to come. "I would like them to feel the energy that was poured into this house. I want people to learn and be educated and be curious. This house represents an historical moment in time," he said. The legacy of the home encompasses not only Nina Simone but also reflects the history of African American families who settled and raised children in the American South.