The National Trust For Historic Preservation has announced that Nina Simone‘s childhood house, in Tyron, North Carolina, will be recognized as a “national treasure”. The move comes in line with the National Trust’s intention of preserving history and the places where it lived.
Nina Simone, who died in 2003 in a small town in Provence, France, has long wowed the world with her personal interpretations and rearrangements of other musicians’ songs. She was also a very prolific songwriter, with original songs that featured in her huge catalogue of publications. The polyhedric singer, who could span from jazz to blues and folk, has left behind a legacy that influences many contemporary artists.
The legendary singer, who didn’t experience a lot of success throughout her life, has been revalued in the last few years due to her impressive body of work as well as for post-death biographies and biopics depicting a troubled, yet genius, soul.
Parallel to her music career, Simone was an active Civil Right Movement advocate. Being African American herself and having lived through the Jim Crow laws, she was highly committed to the African American matter. Her songs often addressed the issue and Simone herself partook and spoke in many Civil Rights meetings.
Nina Simone was never one to take things as they were. She was a fighter with an incredible soul and attitude that still manages to inspire today. The importance of her legacy, both as a tremendous artist and as activist for African Americans, must not be overlooked, and the National Trust seems to agree with this line as it aims “to make sure that the icons of the past remain with us in the future”.
For more information check out the National Trust’s website here. Check out the photo from Nina Simone’s house below.
#Peace.Love.NinaSimone
