Why Dolly Parton's Childhood Was Much CRUELER Than You Thought

Why Dolly Parton's Childhood Was Much CRUELER Than You Thought She told that story hundreds of times. The wooden cabin on the Smoky Mountains, 12 siblings, mother sewing clothes from scraps, the whole family singing gospel by the fire, poor but rich in love. That was the story. This is the truth. 14 people in 2 rooms, no electricity, no water, paying the midwife fee with cornmeal. Dolly was 9 years old when her little brother Larry—the baby assigned to her—died after 4 days. Her mother took the baby’s blanket, sewed it into a coat of many colors, and told the story of Joseph so she would be proud to wear it to school. The kids ripped the coat off her, locked her in a pitch-black closet. She screamed in the dark. She has slept with the light on ever since. At 6 years old, she stepped on a broken piece of glass, nearly severing 3 toes; her father and brothers held her down while her mother sewed them back with cornmeal because there was no money for a doctor. Her grandfather—the preacher—beat her for wearing lipstick. Dolly Parton did not grow up in the charming poverty the world has been told. Start with the cabin, because that is where everything began. #documentary #darkhistory