Birthplace of singer, activist Nina Simone to be preserved

Jun 20, 2018

This undated handout photo made available by Nancy Pierce shows the birthplace of jazz singer Nina Simone in Tryon, NC. The dilapidated wooden cottage in North Carolina that was the birthplace of singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone now has the protection of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The trust said in a news release Tuesday, June 19, 2018, that it will develop and find a new use for the house in Tryon where Simone was born in 1933. Last year, four African-American artists purchased the home. (Nancy Pierce via AP)

TRYON, N.C. (AP) — The dilapidated wooden cottage in North Carolina that was the birthplace of singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone now has the protection of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The trust said in a news release Tuesday that it will develop and find a new use for the house in Tryon where Simone was born in 1933. Last year, four African-American artists purchased the home.

National Trust President and Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Meeks says the trust will work with the home’s new owners and the community to honor Simone’s contributions to society and to “inspire new generations of artists and activists.”

The three-room, 660-square-foot (60-square-meter) home went on the market in 2016.
Simone’s original name was Eunice Waymon. She died in 2003 at the age of 70.

Nina Simone's childhood home was named a “National Treasure” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The organization will devise a plan to rehabilitate the house so that it might be used by future artists. https://t.co/EnSdwE5H31

— New York Times Music (@nytimesmusic) June 19, 2018