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The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named the North Carolina childhood home of legendary singer Nina Simone a “National Treasure.”
The organization announced the news last week, The New York Times reported on Monday. It added that the National Trust pledged to rehabilitate the dilapidated home in Tryon.
Simone’s legacy as an artist is celebrated for her impactful roles as a songwriter, pianist, arranger and activist in the civil rights movement.
Her childhood house has seen several attempts for restoration in the past, but to no avail. A former economic development director bought the house in 2005 but lost the property after dealing with money issues. The home then hit the market again in 2016, leading many to believe it would be torn down.
Stefan Rousseau – PA Images via Getty Images
This time around, Simone’s home was purchased by four African-American artists together in an effort to preserve the legacy she left behind.
Conceptualist Adam Pendleton, sculptor and painter Rashid Johnson, collagist and filmmaker Ellen Gallagher and abstract painter Julie Mehretu started a $25 million campaign of their own to preserve historical sites in relation to African-American history. This campaign ultimately got the National Trust’s attention.
Brent Leggs is the director of the African-American Cultural Heritage Action Fund campaign.
“African-American women in jazz and in civil rights: their legacy is often undervalued, and there’s an ongoing struggle for recognition,” Leggs told the Times.
David Redfern via Getty Images
The project is estimated to cost around $250,000 and no official plan as to what will be done to preserve the space has been set in motion just yet.
Some supporters would like to see the space become an arts residency program, “with hopes that future artists might be inspired by the same surroundings that sparked a young Simone,” according to the Times.
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