Hospital Strike of 1969

Front: Civil rights marches on Ashley Ave. and elsewhere occurred during strikes at two hospitals from March 20 to July 18, 1969. Workers, mostly black women, cited unequal treatment and pay when they organized and walked out of the Medical College Hospital (MCH) on Doughty St. and Charleston County Hospital (CCH) on Calhoun St. Some picketers were arrested, the state of S.C. refused to sanction a union, and talks stalled. Reverse: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference joined the strike in its first major campaign since the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. Protests were marred by violence, and Gov. Robert McNair called out the National Guard and set a curfew. In May King’s widow Coretta Scott King led 5,000 marchers down Ashley Ave. A settlement at MCH in June and CCH in July gave workers raises and promised better treatment.