Ruth J. Simmons

During the first quarter of the twenty-first century, more than one hundred institutions of higher education in the United States launched projects to study and share their histories concerning slavery, segregation, and racial injustice. Slavery, Segregation, and the Second Founding of Rice University joins these wider efforts. Authored by award-winning historians Alexander X. Byrd and W. Caleb McDaniel, the book engages questions specific to Rice's history as the last major private research university in the country to begin desegregation. Although Rice did not open its doors for classes until 1912, it was connected to the history of slavery through the life of its first founder and namesake, William Marsh Rice, whose fortune was deeply intertwined with the enslavement of Black people. Byrd and McDaniel place the history of one of the nation's most renowned universities within a longer and larger context, showing that desegregation required changes to Rice so fundamental that they amounted to a "second founding" of the school. Following the story from slavery through segregation to the second founding, they highlight pivotal points of intersection between the history of Black Houston and the history of Rice University, revealing the seldom acknowledged roles of Black students, Black communities, and HBCUs in creating change at and around Rice. Their study challenges readers to consider anew who counts as a university's founder—a question relevant to ongoing discussions about statues, naming, and the history of higher education. They also reveal what higher education institutions do at their best: create new knowledge and forge solutions to trenchant social problems, thus providing guidance for those committed to doing the valuable work of the "second founding" at colleges and universities today.

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.

An inspiring, indelible memoir from the daughter of sharecroppers in East Texas who became the first Black president of an Ivy League University--an uplifting story of girlhood and the power of family, community, and the classroom to transform one young person's life. I was born at a crossroads: a crossroads in history, a crossroads in culture, and a geographical crossroads 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 to light the two crowded rooms, no books to read. Yet despite this--or, in her words, because of it--Simmons would become one of America's preeminent educators. The former president of Smith College and Brown University, and now the outgoing president of Prairie View A&M, Texas's oldest HBCU, for decades 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.

Pinch-Dash-Done, LLC is a new company introducing its first edition A Gateway to Flavorful Recipes to audiences of all ages to help with mindful and uncomplicated menus. The inspiration behind this concept came during the shutdown of 2020. There was an outpouring from our social media family and friends for positive stories and ideas. Vernita Harris and Beatrice (Bea) Moore, two college friends, decided to share recipes and menus suggestions in their posts. Our family and friends looked forward to easy recipes and creative ways to spice up meals during this period. A revival of cooking is one of the positive residual effects of the shut-in/lockdown and stay-safe initiative. People need food to survive and we were providing simple ideas to enhance mealtimes. Your palate will travel via Tex-Mex, Southern, Italian and Caribbean influences throughout the book. Philanthropic Goals Bea and Vernita are both community advocates. After watching the negative impact on the food supplies during the spring of 2020, they felt compelled to find a way to serve the community and address food insecurity on a long- and short-term basis. Subsequently, they decided to invest their stimulus checks and personal investments into the creation of Pinch-Dash-Done, LLC. Their desire for this cookbook is to serve as a vehicle to provide funding to the following institutions that directly impact food insecurity. Founded in 1982, Houston Food Bank is America's largest food bank in distribution, leading hunger relief in 18 southeast Texas counties. Donations from sales of Pinch-Dash-Done A Gateway to Flavorful Recipes will help with tackling the short-term issue of food shortages. For more information on Houston Food Bank, please go to www.houstonfoodbank.org. Both authors are proud alumnae of Prairie View A&M University, where they met during the spring semester of 1976. Established in 1876, Prairie View A&M University is the second-oldest public university in the state of Texas. Because of its agricultural and mechanical focus, Bea and Vernita plan to establish a scholarship endowment to assist students that are economically challenged in safeguarding a quality education. The newly-created scholarships will support students majoring in Agribusiness and will promote domestic and international food systems and supply chains. These donations will contribute to the long-term goal of overcoming food insecurity. For more information on Prairie View Agricultural & Mechanical University, please go to www.pvamu.edu.