Up Home; One Girl's Journey

Up Home – A Remarkable Journey from Sharecropping to Ivy League Leadership

New York Times Bestseller
"A riveting work of literature, destined to take its place in the canon of great African American autobiographies." —Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University

Born in 1945 in rural East Texas, Ruth J. Simmons was the twelfth child of sharecroppers, raised in a home without running water, electricity, or books. Yet, against all odds, she would go on to make history as the first Black president of an Ivy League university.

In Up Home, Simmons reflects on her upbringing in the segregated South and the people who shaped her journey—her resilient mother, who found ways to nourish a large family despite an empty pantry; her father, who refused to let racial and economic barriers crush her ambitions; and the teachers who saw her potential and opened doors she never imagined.

From the cotton fields of East Texas to Houston’s Fifth Ward and New Orleans at the dawn of the civil rights movement, Simmons offers a deeply personal and powerful account of perseverance, education, and breaking barriers. Her story is not just a memoir—it’s an inspiring testament to the power of resilience, community, and the belief that knowledge can change lives.