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About this item
Highlights
- NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "Simmons's evocative account of her remarkable trajectory from Jim Crow Texas, where she was the youngest of twelve children in a sharecropping family, to the presidencies of Smith College and Brown University shines with tenderness and dignity.
- About the Author: Ruth J. Simmons is the former president of Smith College, Brown University, and Prairie View A&M University, Texas's oldest HBCU, and the former vice provost of Princeton.
- 224 Pages
- Biography + Autobiography, Cultural, Ethnic & Regional
Description
Book Synopsis
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "Simmons's evocative account of her remarkable trajectory from Jim Crow Texas, where she was the youngest of twelve children in a sharecropping family, to the presidencies of Smith College and Brown University shines with tenderness and dignity."--The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) "A riveting work of literature, destined to take its place in the canon of great African American autobiographies."--Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, Bloomberg, BETI was born at a crossroads: a crossroads in history, a crossroads in culture, and a geographical crossroad in North Houston County in East Texas. Born in 1945, Ruth J. Simmons grew up the twelfth child of sharecroppers. Her first home had no running water, no electricity, no books to read. Yet despite this--or, in her words, because of it--Simmons would become the first Black president of an Ivy League university. The former president of Smith College, Brown University, and Prairie View A&M, Texas's oldest HBCU, Simmons has inspired generations of students as she herself made history. In Up Home, Simmons takes us back to Grapeland to show how the people who love us when we are young shape who we become. We meet her caring, tireless mother who managed to feed her large family with an often empty pantry; her father, who refused to let racial and economic injustice crush his youngest daughter's dreams; the doting brothers and sisters; and the attentive teachers who welcomed Ruth into the classroom, guiding her to a future she could hardly imagine as a child. From the farmland of East Texas to Houston's Fifth Ward to New Orleans at the dawn of the civil rights movement, Simmons depicts an era long gone but whose legacies of inequality we still live with today. Written in clear and timeless prose, Up Home is both an origin story set in the segregated South and the uplifting chronicle of a girl whose intellect, grace, and curiosity guide her as she creates a place for herself in the world.
Review Quotes
"Honest, intimate and deeply affecting, [Up Home] recalls Anne Moody's classic memoir, Coming of Age in Mississippi, not just in the obvious biographical parallels but also in terms of its potential impact. This is a book you'll want to pass on to all the young people in your life, no matter their background, just so they can have a little of Simmons's wise voice in their heads. I'd urge every educator to assign Up Home to high school students or incoming college freshmen. It's that good."--Pamela Paul, The New York Times "[An] inspiring story . . . a love letter to every person who helped Simmons out of poverty."--The Washington Post "The tale of an individual making her way over nearly insurmountable obstacles with the help of determined teachers and mentors. . . Extraordinary."--The New York Times Book Review "Simmons tells her story as only she can: simply but eloquently, directly, with a devastating honesty."--The Dallas Morning News "Up Home reads like an inverse retelling of Richard Wright's Native Son. . . . Endearingly candid."--Texas Monthly "Extraordinary . . . a tribute to the people who helped [Simmons] leave poverty and find her place in the world."--Houston Chronicle "Simmons provides an extensive, engrossing family history of both the land they worked and the people she met along her voyage away from rural Texas to the highest rungs of academia. . . . A declaration of love and the constant journey homeward from a brilliant mind . . . [an] inspiring story."--Kirkus Reviews "[A] poignant and inspiring memoir . . . a fiercely memorable debut."--Publishers Weekly "A story of dreaming and becoming, of breaking out of what is supposed to be and discovering what can be. Up Home is far more than a record of the path to success of one of the truly great college presidents in the history of American education; it is a riveting work of literature, destined to take its place in the canon of great African American autobiographies. Simmons's best friend and confidante, Toni Morrison, would be proud!"--Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University
"A love letter to family, to the Black teachers and institutions that loved and inspired Ruth Simmons--people and places that urged her to dream beyond her circumstance and to imagine herself in the most expansive of terms. It is the story of the power of self-creation in community."--Eddie S. Glaude Jr., New York Times bestselling author of Begin Again "An ode to powerful mothers and teachers everywhere whose small acts of love and encouragement pave the way for individual success, community pride, and future greatness."--Tiya Miles, New York Times bestselling author of All That She Carried, winner of the National Book Award "(A) poignant memoir . . . Up Home recalls a life richly shaped by experiences with languages, literature and mentors that helped Simmons become a person she never expected to be. Her sparkling prose and vibrant storytelling invite readers to accompany her on her journey."--BookPage
About the Author
Ruth J. Simmons is the former president of Smith College, Brown University, and Prairie View A&M University, Texas's oldest HBCU, and the former vice provost of Princeton. She earned her bachelor's degree from Dillard University and her master's and doctorate from Harvard in Romance languages and literatures. The president of France named her chevalier of the French Legion of Honor and President Biden named her to the White House HBCU Advisory Board. In 2024, she was honored with the National Humanities Medal. She lives in Texas.Dimensions (Overall): 7.9 Inches (H) x 5.1 Inches (W) x .7 Inches (D)
Weight: .4 Pounds
Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up
Number of Pages: 224
Genre: Biography + Autobiography
Sub-Genre: Cultural, Ethnic & Regional
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Theme: African American & Black
Format: Paperback
Author: Ruth J Simmons
Language: English
Street Date: January 7, 2025
TCIN: 93754449
UPC: 9780593446027
Item Number (DPCI): 247-25-2438
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
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Estimated ship weight: 0.4 pounds
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5.0 out of 5 stars with 1 reviews
100% would recommend
1 recommendations
Overcoming adversity in an outstanding fashion
5 out of 5 stars
Thumbs up graphic, would recommend
- 2 years ago
Up Home is an inspiring memoir by Ruth J. Simmons, who was born the twelfth child of extremely impoverished sharecroppers in Texas and became the first Black president of an Ivy League university. Ms. Simmons does not soften the conditions in which she grew up. Her family lived in owner-provided housing that "had there been any government housing codes, would have missed the required safety standards by a wide margin." She describes the hollow feeling in her family's stomachs when they ran out of the numerous things their mother had canned, especially after "phantom meals," which consisted of her mother's biscuits with either homemade sugar syrup or gravy. Ms. Simmons' mother made the family's clothes from old burlap or cotton flour sacks. Beginning at age six, every family member worked in the cotton fields. Children attended school only when there was no farm work to be done. Ms. Simmons started school when she was six, and she had a dedicated teacher whose "enthusiasm convinced me that learning was supremely important, thoroughly enjoyable, and immensely expansive." The family moved to Houston that same year. Up Home references interracial segregation, and Ms. Simmons did not have a white friend until she attended college, apart from a short friendship with the daughter of a neighboring sharecropper. Despite the difficult conditions she endured, Ms. Simmons repeatedly states how happy her childhood was. Up Home is an uplifting book, and Ms. Simmons is undoubtedly a person who should be a role model for people of any race. She overcame many adversities and worked tirelessly to educate herself, which she did in an outstanding fashion. She is an extraordinary woman, passionate about education. Up Home is an easy read which I enjoyed immensely. While touching on some difficult contextual issues, Ms. Simmons' narration never goes into enough detail to be disturbing to younger readers.