The Ditchdigger’s Daughters: A Black Family’s Astonishing Success Story
by Yvonne S. Thornton
Donald Thornton, a ditchdigger in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, has the perfect comeback for all the people that tease him about having five daughters and no sons: “You won’t be laughin’ when my little girls grow up to be doctors.” Against stiff odds of growing up black and in poverty in the 1950’s, two of Thorton’s daughters did grow up to be doctors. Determination, involvement in the arts, and a family emphasis on education created a home environment in which the girls could succeed. This memoir provides readers not only with the Thorntons’ story, but a high-interest look at New Jersey’s Black history.
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