From Staff Reports 

 TRYON —  A $2 million capital campaign will be launched to underwrite the construction of the “Nina Simone Archive,” the Nina Simone Project announced on June 19.

To that end, Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported on June 20, “Tryon is taking a major step forward in honoring the memory of a hometown superstar.”

The archive will be built at 65 S. Trade St., directly across from Nina Simone Plaza. The new building will house thousands of primary and secondary documents on the life and legacy of the the late Tryon native who is referred to as the“high priestess of soul.” Eunice Kathleen Waymon, who used the stage name “Nina Simone,” was born on Feb. 21, 1933 in Tryon. 

“Having grown up in Tryon, I did not know that Nina Simone also grew up here and it pleases me very much that through the work of many volunteers that the next generations will not grow up not knowing that they come from the same piece of land that Nina Simone does,” Andrew Fletcher, a board member of the project, told News 13.

Simone achieved international recognition for her talent and her contributions to the arts and activism. The announcement was chosen specifically to be unveiled on “Juneteenth,” June 19, as Simone was a civil rights activist prior to her death. 

Dr. Crys Armbrust, founder and chair of the NSP, said Simone’s words and work carry even more weight in today’s social and political climate.