Events mark 50th anniversary of Charleston hospital workers strike

“Can we have a voice in the affairs of the hospital?” one protester’s sign asks.

“The whole world is watching,” another notes.

Photos of the 1969 Charleston hospital workers strike show the dignity and determination of the 400 or so African American protesters, mostly women, fighting for fair treatment, pay and working conditions. The protesters said racist attitudes were also putting patient safety at risk.

One photographer who captured many images of that era, Cecil Williams, will speak about the protest as the Medical University of South Carolina and Roper St. Francis Healthcare mark its 50^th anniversary in a symposium called "Marching toward health equity and social justice: Lessons learned since 1969."

Events during the May 6 – 9 commemoration also include a panel discussion about the protest, a look at where black nurses stand now compared to their status during the sixties and a program featuring civil rights leader and former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, strike participants and their family members.

 

The events are open to the public, but some require registration.

The 1969 strike focused on conditions at the Medical College Hospital, which would later become MUSC, and the Charleston County Hospital. National civil rights leaders including Young, Coretta Scott King and Dr. Ralph David Abernathy came to Charleston to support the hospital workers. On Mother’s Day, May 11 of that year, nurse's aide Mary Moultrie, union leader Walter Reuther and members of Congress spoke at a rally criticizing state officials for their attitudes toward negotiating with protest leaders.

The Medical College Hospital reached an agreement with the striking workers about a month later. Charleston County Hospital negotiators soon followed suit.

Fifty years later, MUSC leaders call diversity and inclusion an institutional priority. Earlier this year, Forbes ranked MUSC No. 13 out of 500 organizations on its list of America’s Best Employers for Diversity. It was No. 3 among educational institutions on the list. INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine has also named MUSC one of its Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award recipients.