New Children’s Book Chronicles Trailblazer’s Inspiring Journey
Three years ago, the extraordinary story of 98-year-old Hettie Simmons Love was immortalized in an inspirational new children’s book titled “Hettie Simmons Love: Penn Pioneer.”
Love made history in 1947 as the first African American to graduate from Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, the world’s top-ranked business program.
To honor her achievement, the National Youth Foundation engaged Philadelphia students to write and illustrate Love’s triumphant life story in children’s literary form.
The book details her journey beginning in 1920s segregated Florida where she attended a prestigious Black boarding school prior to graduating college at esteemed Fisk University.
Depicts Wharton Trailblazer’s Resilience And Accomplishments
Despite the immense racial barriers Love faced pursuing higher business education in the pre-Civil Rights Era, she persevered to complete her Wharton MBA, concentrating specifically in accounting. At the time, she was the only Black student and one of just two women in the entire program.
The uplifting new picture book, targeted for young readers, depicts Love’s resilience in overcoming adversity combined with her extraordinary professional achievements, world travels, and loving family life. Its release coincided with Women’s History Month 2020, offering overdue recognition to this unsung female pioneer.
Wharton’s First Black Dean Meets Pioneering Predecessor
To celebrate the children’s book memorializing her historical significance, the then-98-year-old Love returned to Penn’s campus in 2021 for an emotional meeting with Wharton’s trailblazing Dean Erika James, the school’s first Black female leader.
Dean James honored the elderly Mrs. Love with a special certificate, emphasizing how her 1947 graduation paved the way for so many minority students and leaders who followed in her footsteps. As James said, “I would not be here if it weren’t for someone like you who paved the way.”
The powerful cross-generational encounter between Wharton’s pioneering first Black graduate and first Black Dean spotlighted Mrs. Love’s living legacy. The inspirational figure hopes her biography will now motivate a new generation of diverse leaders and honor how she debunked racial and gender barriers over 70 years ago.
