“The Dixie 3” Film Highlights Civil Rights Struggles in Nursing at Hampton History Museum and Chrysler Museum

“The Dixie 3: A Story on Civil Rights in Nursing” Film
Hampton History Museum
Feb. 14 & 15, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Feb. 16, 1-5 p.m.

HAMPTON

The Hampton History Museum will host free screenings of the locally produced docudrama, “The Dixie 3”, from February 14-16. Created by For Nurses By Nurses Productions, the 35-minute film, tells the story of the 1963 civil rights case at Dixie Hospital in Hampton, Virginia, where three Black nurses faced dismissal after staging a sit-in at the hospital’s whites-only cafeteria. “The Dixie 3” features real nurses portraying their historic counterparts: Angela Michell as Patricia Taylor (McKenzie), T’Wanda Lowery as Agnes Stokes (Chisman), and Melanie Outlaw as Mildred Smith.

  The film will be shown continuously in the museum’s Great Hall, with special introductory talks by producer and director, Denetra Hampton, on Friday and Saturday a 12 p.m., presenting The Importance of The African American Nursing Experience During the Civil Rights Movement.

Hampton History Museum is located at 120 Old Hampton Lane.

“Dixie 3” and “The Black Angels”
Films At Chrysler Museum
Feb. 22 3-5 p.m.

NORFOLK

The Chrysler Museum will show the documentary, “The Dixie 3: A Story on Civil Rights in Nursing.” on February 22 by filmmaker Denetra Hampton.

Also showing by the same filmmaker is 2018 mini-documentary, “The Black Angels: A Nurse’s Story.” It chronicles the efforts of Black nurses who risked their lives to care for patients with tuberculosis in the 1940’s, at Seaview Hospital, when white nurses refused, and there was no cure.

The event is free and will be held  in Chrysler’s Kaufman Theatre from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. Filmmaker Denetra Hampton produced the documentary, “The Dixie 3: A Story on Civil Rights in Nursing”  which tells the story of Mildred Smith, Patricia Taylor, and Agnes Stokes who were fired from their nursing jobs after they sought to eat lunch in the hospital cafeteria that was deemed for “whites only,” rather than in the small room in the basement for Black staff.

Their protest, which mirrored similar acts happening across the South, led to a court battle that was ultimately settled in their favor.

The court ordered their reinstatement and awarded them full back pay.