Pearl S. Buck

Peter Conn (University of Pennsylvania)
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Pearl Sydenstricker Buck was born on June 26, 1892, in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Her parents, Absalom Sydenstricker and Carolyn Stulting Sydenstricker, had returned on home leave to the United States from China, where Absalom had been serving as a Presbyterian missionary for over a decade. A few months after her birth, the family went back to China, where Pearl would spend most of the next forty years. She grew up bilingual and, in her own later phrase, culturally bi-focal, educated in both English and Chinese. During these years, the family lived in several towns and cities along the Yangtze River.

In 1910, Pearl came to the United States to attend Randolph-Macon Woman's College, a small, denominational school in Lynchburg, Virginia. Although Pearl had intended to find a career in

1725 words

Citation: Conn, Peter. "Pearl S. Buck". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 March 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=629, accessed 19 March 2024.]

629 Pearl S. Buck 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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