Notes
Notes All of the interviews are my own unless a specific publication is cited as the source. chapter 1: called for and delivered ~ june 1898–february 1933 5 Tryon, North Carolina: Tryon information from various sources including Polk County, North Carolina History, Polk County Historical Association , Inc., pp. 75–77; Eunice Waymon birth certificate, Polk County records; Mike McCue interview. 6 “a clever man”: John Irvin Waymon and Carrol Waymon interviews; Simone, I Put a Spell on You, pp. 1–3; Carrol Waymon comments from La Légende, a 1992 French-made documentary on Nina Simone. 6 Kate’s heritage: Kate Waymon, written reminiscences, courtesy of John Irvin Waymon; I Put a Spell on You, pp. 1–4. 7 a dry cleaning plant: In I Put a Spell on You, Nina says her father moved to Tryon to open a barbershop. Her brother John, the oldest child, who was seven at the time—Nina had not yet been born—remembered that his father’s first business was a dry cleaning shop on Trade Street. The ads in the Tryon Daily Bulletin, which ran almost daily in February and March 1929, suggest that John Davan moved to Tryon to open the dry cleaning business. For information about the black population in western North Carolina , see Davis, “The Black Heritage of Western North Carolina,” probably published in 1984, courtesy of the University of North Carolina Asheville—D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections. Also Asheville Citizen , December 11, 1932, Section B, p. 7, for a statistical breakdown of Polk County from the 1930 census. Ruth Hannon Hamilton interview; and The Lanier Library, 1890–1965, Diamond Jubilee. 8 four gas stations: John Irvin Waymon, Holland Brady Jr. interviews. 10 nine-year-old Carrol: Poem courtesy of Carrol Waymon. 10 Reverend Scotland Harris: Beryl Hannon Dade interviews. 11 Ballenger’s department store: Holland Brady Jr. interview; Tryon Daily Bulletin, April 6, 1931, September 21, 1939, October 12, 1939, January 1, 1940, March 10, 1940. 13 East Livingston Street: John Irvin Waymon, Carrol Waymon, Blanche Lyles Solomon interviews. 14 Simpson Quartet: Tryon Daily Bulletin, August 18, 1930. 15 the Depression: In I Put a Spell on You, Nina writes that her father had lost everything during the Depression. Because she was not yet born, her narrative was necessarily based on others’ accounts. John Irvin Waymon, who was eight when the Depression began, remembered it differently, and it is his firsthand account that I have used. chapter 2: we knew she was a genius ~ march 1933–august 1941 16 eight months old: In the 1992 French-made documentary, Nina returned to Tryon and talked about her childhood. She stopped in front of one house on the east side of town and identified it as the house she was born in, but this is incorrect. The house she pointed to, which was demolished sometime after the documentary was made, was a temporary residence for the family, probably in 1940. Kate Waymon reminiscences, courtesy of John Irvin Waymon. See also I Put a Spell on You, p. 7. 17 she slept: Carrol Waymon, Dorothy Waymon Simmons interviews; I Put a Spell on You, pp. 14–17. 17 Lake Lanier: John Irvin Waymon interviews; Lake Lanier information, special edition of the Tryon Daily Bulletin—“Polk County Photo history —1885–2005,” Vol. 1, p. 18. 18 an intestinal blockage: John Irvin Waymon, Carrol Waymon, Dorothy Waymon Simmons interviews; I Put a Spell on You, pp. 9–10. 21 Episcopal Center: In I Put a Spell on You, pp. 9–11, Nina presents a chronology of the family’s moves in Tryon and to Lynn that is at odds with what her brothers John and Carrol remember. Some of their reminiscences are supported by contemporaneous documents. I have chosen to use their recollections in describing aspects of the family’s life between 1933 and 1940. 21 Lynn: I Put a Spell on You, p. 11; Dorothy Waymon Simmons interview. 22 heating stones: Ruth Hannon Hamilton interview. 23 moved back to Tryon: John Irvin Waymon, Carrol Waymon, Dorothy Waymon Simmons interviews. Carrol and Dorothy are not clear about the sequence of moves after the family came back from Lynn. There may have been three temporary stops—one on what is now Beech Street, another in a house across the railroad tracks near the depot, and a third back on the east side, a house the family refers to as the Hunter house, where Lola Hunter lived. The family eventually settled...
OR
Buy This Book in Print