Simon Estes honored in new national African-American museum
Iowa native Simon Estes is one of three African-American opera singers to be featured in the new National Museum of African American History and Culture opening this weekend in Washington, D.C. Estes, who is in a video at the museum, said, “I am truly humbled by this honor. I hope the museum will inform, inspired and motivate people to never give up.” The new museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution. Estes grew up in Centerville and attended the University of Iowa, where he was the first black member of the university’s Old Gold Singers. He earned a scholarship to the Julliard School of Music in New York City. After graduation, the NAACP helped fund his move to Germany in 1965. From there he landed several prestigious opera roles in Europe while U.S. opera houses wouldn’t hire him because of his race, he said in a news release.
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