Join the Movement: Save Nina Simone's Childhood Home

Join the Movement to Save Nina Simone’s Childhood Home

Today, the National Trust announced our newest effort in our campaign to save Nina Simone’s childhood home!

Tucked away in the hills of Tryon, North Carolina, this National Treasure needs critical repairs and rehabilitation. While the home was saved from demolition in 2017 when four New York-based artists purchased the structure, there’s plenty more work to be done, including much-needed exterior repairs to its roof and windows.

Here’s where you come in. By donating to our campaign, you’ll help fund this critical restoration work. And in the process, you’ll get to enjoy one-of-a-kind perks that make it easy for you to show some love for Nina Simone! These include enamel pins, postcards, T-shirts, and even an exclusive listening session inside the home, which is currently closed to the public.

Learn more about our campaign, and make a donation today. No matter the amount, your support is invaluable to bringing this National Treasure back to life.

Restore Nina Simone’s Childhood Home

Help save the place where the “High Priestess of Soul” discovered her love for music.

National Trust for Historic Preservation

Tucked away in Tryon, North Carolina, is the humble home where Nina Simone developed her love for the piano. Despite its history, the home sat vacant until 2017 when four artists purchased it and saved it from demolition. Today, with the artists’ guidance, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is working to create a vibrant future for the site, but we need your help! Join our campaign to ensure that Nina Simone’s childhood home is preserved for future generations.

Known as the “High Priestess of Soul,” Nina Simone’s career spanned multiple genres, four decades, several continents, and 15 Grammy nominations. But her legacy isn’t just a musical one.

From refusing to perform for inattentive audiences, to fusing classical piano with African rhythms, to condemning racial and gender discrimination, Nina Simone transcended the constraints society placed on black female performers.

Her music and politics drew her into a powerful circle, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael, Langston Hughes, and Miriam Makeba. Her performance at the Dr. King-led march from Selma to Montgomery and recordings of songs such as “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black” (her tribute to Lorraine Hansberry) and “Strange Fruit” cemented her identity as a fierce, fearless voice of the Civil Rights Movement.

Today, the call for social justice that Nina Simone carried is as relevant as ever, and it all started in her modest childhood home—a simple yet powerful place that needs your help to be preserved for future generations.

Nina Simone was born Eunice Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina, in 1933.

As a young girl, she first played publicly while accompanying her mother on the piano during church services. Becoming aware of her talent, Tryon residents convinced her mother to allow Simone to take piano lessons. One of the residents was a classically trained pianist and teacher who would go on to teach Simone for years, placing her on a musical trajectory that would not only take her to the Juilliard School in New York City, but to some of the most celebrated stages around the world.

Looking back, Nina Simone’s childhood life in Tryon didn’t just shape her musically; it was also where she experienced the racial discrimination that shaped her worldview and eventually propelled her as a voice of the Civil Rights Movement. Once such instance is when Simone’s parents were forced to give up their seats to white audience members at her debut recital. Even though she was only eleven, Simone found her voice and refused to play until her parents were returned to their rightful place in the front row.

Despite its rich history at the root of Simone’s legacy, her childhood home in Tryon sat vacant and neglected following previously unsuccessful preservation efforts. In 2017, when demolition appeared to be the only option, four New York-based artists rallied together and purchased the home so that it could be spared from the wrecking ball.

Today, with the artists’ guidance, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, through its African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund,  is working to develop a rehabilitation plan, perform critical exterior stabilization work, and identify future uses and protection for this National Treasure.

But we can’t do it without you.

While work is underway to bring Nina Simone’s childhood home back to life, we need your help to cross the finish line.

By donating to our campaign, you’ll help fund critical restoration work at the home, including much-needed exterior repairs to its roof and windows. And in the process, you’ll get to enjoy one-of-a-kind perks that make it easy for you to show your love for the “High Priestess of Soul.”

Spread the Word with Nina Simone-Inspired Prints, Enamel Pins, T-Shirts, and Postcards – Prices Vary

​Want to show your love for the “High Priestess of Soul” and the campaign to restore her childhood home? We’ve got you covered! We’re offering a variety of exclusively designed, Nina-inspired perks to thank you for your generous donation. Check the sidebar to the right for all the details (click each item to learn more), including information on our special bundles that allow you to claim multiple perks at discounted prices. 

(PS: Donors who claim the full bundle will receive a print of a never-before-seen photo of Nina Simone in the recording studio, courtesy of Sony Legacy.)

But wait, there’s more! In addition to our amazing lineup of tangible perks, we’re offering an exclusive experience that will allow you to tap into Nina’s legacy like never before.

Childhood Home Listening Sessions (Only Ten Available!) – $1,000

Discover firsthand what must it have been like to hear Nina Simone play the piano inside her childhood home. By claiming this perk, you and a friend will get to listen to a collection of Nina Simone’s most beloved hits inside the home that shaped her art. Please note that travel to North Carolina and any related expenses are not included in this perk. Your donation secures your access to the home for a private, hour-long listening session and a tour of the home. Listening sessions will be available beginning in the spring of 2020. After claiming this perk, a representative from our campaign will reach out to coordinate scheduling and to answer any additional questions you might have. 

And We’re Not Done Yet!

Throughout the campaign, we plan to release additional items for sale to benefit the restoration of Nina Simone’s childhood home. Please stay tuned to our campaign updates for more details about