Simone’s quest for personal and political freedom was evident in her body of work, and it is this essence that the partnership hopes to preserve and elevate through this project. The partnership includes assistance from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, the largest preservation campaign ever undertaken on behalf of African-American history. The $24 million, multi-year project survives on funding from its partners at the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Foundations and others. The organization’s mission is to draw attention to the remarkable stories that evoke centuries of African-American activism and achievement and to tell our nation’s full history. Grants made from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund usually range from $50,000 to $150,000.
“We are committed to uplifting more stories of African-American achievement, activism and community, and through the Action Fund [we] are pushing the boundaries on what it means to preserve American history,” said Brent Leggs, director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. “Places like the Nina Simone childhood home that’s a simple, unadorned, vernacular structure, in our view, is as important as some of the grand mansions that honor the former industrialists and wealthy farmers in American history. We want these overlooked stories that have been undervalued to get the recognition they deserve.”
There are fewer than 100 National Treasures across the country, according to Leggs. Fewer than 6 percent of the National Park Service sites are dedicated to African-American history, and fewer than 2 percent are dedicated to women’s history.
The Action Fund is chaired by actress Phylicia Rashad, who joined the preservation efforts because of her eagerness to help “correct the misconceptions of our history and craft a new narrative to tell the full history.” The fund will provide grants for African-American historic sites such as the Simone house, empower youths through hands-on preservation experiences and promote communities that work for everyone.
The National Trust chose to memorialize Simone’s life because of her immense contribution to music and the civil rights movement. Her piercing imagery and fearless rhetoric, which are still relevant today, were unlike any artists of her time and transcended the constraints often placed on black women artists in the mid-20th century.