The Dixie 3
A Story On Civil Rights In Nursing
THE STORY
In August 1963, three Black nurses at Dixie Hospital – Mildred Smith, Patricia Taylor (McKenzie), and Agnes Stokes (Chisman) – decided to eat lunch in the hospital’s new, spacious whites-only cafeteria rather than in the cramped basement classroom designated for non-whites. The three women were fired on the second day of their sit-in and sued the hospital for racial discrimination. Shortly after their firing, Dixie Hospital ended its policy of cafeteria segregation but refused to re-hire the three nurses.
NAACP lawyer William Alfred Smith took up the case. In 1964, the U.S. District Court in Newport News dismissed the suit on the grounds that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not apply retroactively. However, in 1966, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the nurses’ constitutional rights had been violated and ordered the hospital to reinstate their employment with full back pay, ending the racial segregation of employees at Dixie Hospital.
*Historical Fact: The Dixie 3 was coined their name by producer, Denetra Hampton
The Official Logo
Copyrighted. All Rights Reserved
THE DIXIE 3 is the coined term by Producer, Denetra Hampton for the nurses in the film, The Dixie 3: A Story On Civil Rights In Nursing.
After uncovering the story in 2020 during research for another project, Denetra ran across an article discussing the discrimination and firing of three nurses at Dixie Hospital in Hampton, Virginia in 1963. It was with the making of the film that she then coined the nurses, THE DIXIE 3.
The official logo and coin was designed by For Nurses By Nurses Productions to represent this historical event, the dedication of the historical marker and is representation of the official and original work by the production company.
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THE DIXIE 3
EXHIBIT
For Nurses By Nurses Productions has dedicated an exhibition to the film, The Dixie 3: A Story On Civil Rights In Nursing. The exhibition is the product of three ‘Civil Rights-Centered’ events of great importance for the health sciences: the screening of the film, the artistic collaboration of the civil rights movement and nursing, and the acquisition of artifacts from the DIXIE 3 descendants. Produced and Designed by Denetra Hampton
