Tina Turner's Former School Turned Into A Museum Dedicated To Her Life & Career
"Tina Turner's former school has been turned into a museum dedicated to the 74-year-old singer. The opening ceremony, which took place on Friday (26th September), was attended by more than 100 people with Turner sending a video message to those in attendance.
The tiny one room school house in Brownsville, West Tennessee where Turner was educated has been turned into a museum dedicated to the career of the prolific singer and her childhood. Turner was born in nearby Nutbush, a town 50 miles northeast of Memphis, in 1939 but attended the Flagg Grove School in the 1940s and early 50s when the US education system was still segregated.
Although Turner was unable to attend the event as she struggles flying long distances - she lives in Zurich, Switzerland - she expressed her appreciation via a video message and in a number of interviews. USA Today interviewed Turner about the new museum and she explained how she had come to hear about it and how she wanted to be involved in the project. Apparently she was initially sceptical about which school was being turned into a museum and thought it was a school local to her birthplace simply using her name.
In the interview, the 'River Deep - Mountain High' singer explained: "There's a little bit of a story behind me finding out that my school was being honoured. There's a magazine in Switzerland called Bilan and it was written there that Tina Turner's school was being turned into a heritage centre. And before that there was a school in actually Nutbush that was a white school and I thought they were just putting my name on a white school."
The 'Simply the best' singer is still so popular around the world, with the famous Skycity Auckland Casino putting on a tribute show in the coming months, with tickets available.
However, after reading the magazine article she soon realised the school in question was one she had actually attended and one which had connections to her own family. Turner said "After Bilan I realised that it was actually Flagg Grove School which was the grounds which belonged to my great grandfather. And so it's dealing with a memory so immediately then I became excited and got involved."
As the Star Tribune reports, the museum is being used both as way to attract tourists to the local area and as a means of inspiration and to show the power of education and determination. Turner was also keen to emphasise how important education is in achieving ones dreams and goals.
In the same interview, Turner stated "Everyone has a dream I think but I have to say that your dream cannot work without education. I think I stand for an example for poor children for their future to show that it is possible if you go straight ahead, stay on course, you can stay achieve success with determination through hard times - not letting it stop you."" - Contactmusic.com
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