The Ditchdigger’s Daughters: A Black Family’s Astonishing Success Story

Thoroughly revised and updated, a new edition of this powerful biography by a New Jersey doctor tells how her parents, who held down multiple jobs and transmitted strong values to their six daughters, inspired them to rise above race, color, and gender to achieve great success. 20,000 first printing. “I Love You Better Than I Love Life…”
 
         …Donald Thornton told his six daughters. “But I’m not always gonna be around to look after you, and no man’s gonna come along and offer to take care of you because you ain’t light-skinned. That’s why you gotta be able to look after yourselves. And for that you gotta be smart.” 
        The Ditchdigger’s Daughters is an inspiring portrait by a loving daughter of a father whose pervasive common sense, folk wisdom, and untutored but right-on insights gave his children their road map to a better life. Itis the story of a man who dared to dream that his black daughters would someday become doctors–and who guided them to achieve the seemingly impossible goals he set for them. 
         From the tenements of East Harlem to the footlights of the Apollo Theatre to the halls of an Ivy League medical school, Dr. Yvonne Thornton has written a family biography that is as moving as it is inspiring. Here is the story of a poor black father and his unimaginable dream of seeing all six of his daughters become doctors; of the wisdom and guidance that gave his girls the strength to keep striving; and of the remarkable way that each one of them transcended race, color, and gender to fulfill the promise of the American Dream.