Civil rights leaders such as Coretta Scott King assisted in the strike
Fueled by racial inequity in wages and staff treatment, hundreds of mostly African American and female hospital workers at the Medical College (now the Medical University of South Carolina) began a strike in March 1969, with employees of the Charleston County Hospital following suit shortly afterward. Assisted by civil rights leaders Ralph Abernathy and Coretta Scott King (third from left), as well as local advocates such as Bill Saunders and Rosetta Simmons, strike organizers advocated for nonviolent activism, responding to curfews and the presence of the National Guard by holding nighttime demonstrations. After 100 days of protest and threats from longshoremen to strike in solidarity, the Medical College relented, rehiring all strikers, establishing grievance protocols, and ensuring equity in pay; three weeks later, the Charleston County Hospital did the same.
