Sisters Mary Alice, Mary Louise, Mary Anne, and Mary Catherine made history as the first identical African American quadruplets on record following their birth on May 23, 1946 in the “Blacks Only” section of the Annie Penn Hospital in Rockingham County, North Carolina. Born in extreme poverty to hard working parents, James “Pete” Fultz Jr., and Annie Mae Troxler Fultz, who were already caring for 6 children. Following the birth of the quads, the family now had 10 children to provide for. James worked as a tobacco sharecropper and tenant farmer. His wife Annie, who was left unable to hear or speak following a childhood illness, was of African American and Cherokee decent. Neither parent could read or write. The delivering physician, Dr. Fred Klenner, made several controversial decisions concerning the quads. For starters, he immediately began testing his unproven theory about vitamin C, injecting the girls with 50 milligrams each the day they were born. He also gave all the girls the same first name Mary; then middle names belonging to his wife, sister, aunt and great-aunt: Ann, Louise, Alice, and Catherine. The quads parents were entirely left out of the naming decision. Dr. Klenner later negotiated a deal with the Pet Milk Company which essentially left James and Annie without parental rights or responsibility for the quads.