Donna Northouse was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1947. She spent most of her youth in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1969, she married Cameron Northouse. They both received their Ph.D.s in English from the University of South Carolina in the 1970s. Most of Donna's teaching career was spent as an English/humanities teacher at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas (1977-1995). She has also taught English and Education courses at the college level in Dallas, Texas and Baltimore, Maryland. She and Cameron have one son, Clayton Northouse, who lives and work in Washington, D.C. as an attorney. Donna and Cameron moved to Shepherdstown, WV in 2008, after running their bookstore, Clayton Fine Books, for five years in the historic Mt. Vernon District of Baltimore. They still run their rare book company and Donna is heavily involved in doing volunteer research and writing for local history organizations, namely, the Jefferson County, WV Historical Society and the Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society. She has organized many free seminars for teachers and the public on topics related to American history and literature.
