“The Dixie 3” Film Premiere Week at Hampton History Museum

The Hampton History Museum in Hampton, Va., is hosting a free, week-long showing of the film, “The Dixie 3: A Story on Civil Rights in Nursing,” from February 21-27. Produced and directed by local filmmaker, Denetra Hampton, the 35-minute film is based on the landmark civil rights case surrounding the events that occurred at Dixie Hospital in 1963. On August 8, 1963, three black nurses, Mildred Smith, Patricia Taylor (McKenzie), and Agnes Stokes (Chisman), decided to eat lunch in the whites-only cafeteria of the hospital 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. On April 28, 1966, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously reversed a lower court decision and ordered Dixie Hospital to reinstate the employment of the nurses.