36. Her mother was a minister, and so her early performances were at Methodist Churches
Like Carrol, Nina’s parents soon realized that they had a musical prodigy on their hands. They exempted her from household chores to protect her little fingers, but incredibly her less-fortunate siblings didn’t begrudge her the special treatment. When Mary Kate Waymon began traveling to Methodist churches in surrounding counties to preach, she took her four-year-old daughter with her to provide musical accompaniment. Dressed in her smartest clothes, Nina was so small that she could hardly reach the organ’s pedals, but still blew congregations away with her precocious displays of talent.