The Fultz Sisters

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The Fultz Sisters or Fultz Quads, (May 23, 1946) became the first identical African-American quadruplets on record, and appeared in advertisements for PET baby formula.

Life[]

The low chances of a couple conceiving quadruplets in the 1940s, decades before the availability of fertility treatments, and the fact that the family was poor and black made the sisters' birth a sensational story that garnered national media attention. The Fultz Sisters — also known as the “Fultz Quads” — were the first identical African American quadruplets on record. They were born on May 23, 1946 in Reidsville, North Carolina. The sisters' parents were Pete Fultz and Annie Mae Fultz. The father was a sharecropper and the mother was deaf and mute. Living on a farm with a household consisting of 6 other children, it was financially hard for Pete and Annie. The sisters were all delivered prematurely at three pounds each in a segregated wing known as “the basement” of Annie Penn Hospital. The delivery of the children was accomplished by Dr. Fred Klenner and a black nurse named Margaret Ware. The basement was considered the blacks only wing at the time. The hospital had no incubators, and so the babies were wrapped in cotton gauze blankets and were placed close to each other for warmth. The sisters were named Mary Louise, Mary Ann, Mary Alice, and Mary Catherine. Due to the Fultz sisters’ parents being too poor to raise their children themselves, Dr. Klenner and nurse by the name of Elma Saylor helped provide the basic necessities for them. Dr. Klenner allegedly experimented with Mrs. Fultz by putting her on a high dosage of vitamin C in the later parts of her pregnancy. Neither Pete nor Annie Mae could read which Dr. Klenner allegedly exploited. Dr. Klenner took the responsibility of naming the children upon himself since the parents could not read. He decided to name them all Mary followed by the names of the women in the Klenner family. Ann was for Dr. Klenner's wife, Louise was for his daughter, Alice was for his aunt, and Catherine was for his great aunt.

Impact of music[]

Music was a large part of the Fultz sister lives. They went to Bethune–Cookman University to study music. The sisters were accepted into the college as one unit and had received a four-year scholarship to attend there. While in college, the sisters were inseparable. But from having medical problems to skipping classes, the sisters grades dropped drastically low. They attended the university for at least two years until the school asked their parents to remove them. The forced withdrawal from the school, according to their nurse Elma Saylor, eventually put the girls in a state of depression for a long period of time. They eventually returned home to live with Elma Saylor and her husband. The Fultz sisters still tried to maintain some sort of fame and decided to go into show business. They developed an amateur band at twenty-two years old and tried working in nightclubs. Among all four of the sisters, they eventually learned how to play the piano, guitar, viola, drums, cello, violin, and organ. As a group they were able to harmonize together, but each sister had different musical talents. After music, they all eventually became nurses aides following in the footsteps of their longtime caretaker Mrs. Saylor.

Fame and business deals with PET Milk Corporation[]

Fultz Quads Meeting President JFK at White House

Pet Milk targeted the Quad sisters to help bring in black urban consumers. This is mostly because during the era of the 1940s, black communities did not buy baby formula because it was too expensive. This ultimately led to most mothers breastfeeding. Pet Milk negotiated a deal with Dr. Fred Klenner who reportedly turned down two other companies. Pet reportedly offered to pay all medical bills associated with the birth of the girls, hire an in-home nurse, provide the girls with their own farm land, provide a house for the family, and pay $350 per month for their care. At the age of 13, in November 1959, the girls performed as a string quartet in the annual Orange Blossom festival in Miami, Florida. The Fultz sisters also appeared in magazines such as Ebony. They first appeared in Ebony at the age of one. The Fultz sisters were so popular that at one point, there was an ad that offered an autographed picture of the sisters. The sisters also appeared on television shows and met presidents and celebrities such as John F Kennedy, Harry Truman and Althea Gibson.

Deaths[]

None of the Fultz sisters are living. Mary Louise died in 1991 at age 45, Mary Ann died in 1995 at the age of 49, Mary Alice died in 2001 aged 55, and Mary Catherine in 2018 at 72. Their deaths were all caused by the same disease; breast cancer. Before Mary Catherine passed away, she believed that this cancerous disease was caused from the shot in the hospital that was given to them when they were born. The fact that the Fultz Sisters lived so long was quite impressive because their chances for survival, since their birth, were quite slim. Each of the Fultz Sisters was born prematurely and with the expected birth of quadruplets they lacked the necessary equipment to treat them. The Fultz Sisters went through treatment such as eye-dropper feeding and incubator nursing.

Cultural references[]

• A picture was taken of the sisters with President Kennedy, which is in the White House Archives or the JFK Library.
• The sisters appeared in many Ebony magazine spreads and black publications.
• The story of the sisters is described in Skimmed: Breastfeeding, Race and Injustice by Andrea Freeman

References[]

• "LIttle Known Black History Fact: The Fultz Quadruplets". Black America Web. 2015-06-10. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
• Chinwe (2015-09-18). "The Fultz Sisters: The Fascinating and Tragic Story of America's First Identical Black Quadruplets". BGLH Marketplace. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
• "Fultz quads meet President Kennedy 62". Des Moines Tribune. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
• Graham, Theodore W (25 August 1962). "Attractive Fultz Quads Eye the Future". New Pittsburgh Courier. p. 18. ProQuest 371644205.
• Newsome, Melba (April 2005). "I Think It Was the Shots". O, The Oprah Magazine. 6 (4): 232. EBSCOhost 16538718.
• MaGee, Ny (9 Feb 2016). "Black History Forgotten: How The Fultz Quadruplets Were Exploited By Pet Milk". The Inquisitr.

External links[]

• Skimmed: Breastfeeding, Race, and Injustice