Book by Winthrop History Faculty Member Recognized by S.C. Historical Society (03/16/26)

HIGHLIGHTS

• At the 171st annual meeting of the S.C. Historical Society on March 12, members presented Professor Jennifer Dixon-McKnight its 2025 George C. Rogers Jr. Book Award.
• "We Paved the Way: Black Women and the Charleston Hospital Workers' Campaign" (published by the University Press of Mississippi) uncovered the untold stories of the women who went on strike in 1969 at Medical College Hospital and Charleston County Hospital.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA - A book about a Charleston hospital workers' strike by Winthrop University Associate Professor Jennifer Dixon-McKnight recently won a state historical award.

At the 171st annual meeting of the S.C. Historical Society on March 12, members presented Dixon-McKnight its 2025 George C. Rogers Jr. Book Award. The honor is presented annually by the historical society to the author of the best book of South Carolina history published during the previous year.

"We Paved the Way: Black Women and the Charleston Hospital Workers' Campaign" (published by the University Press of Mississippi) uncovered the untold stories of the women who went on strike in 1969 at Medical College Hospital and Charleston County Hospital. The two-month movement was one of the most significant civil rights campaigns in South Carolina. It caught the attention of the leadership of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King's widow, Coretta Scott King.

The book outlined the women's views as they were viewed as agitators at the time but have since been revered as heroines who fought for better working conditions and higher wages.

Dixon-McKnight, an associate professor of history and African American Studies, said it is an honor to have her work recognized by the society. "I am incredibly grateful," she said.

The editor of the Historical Society's quarterly academic journal, the South Carolina Historical Magazine, selected the finalists for this year's award, and an invited panel of independent judges chose the winner, who received a plaque and a cash prize.

The award is named in memory of George C. Rogers Jr. (1922-97), longtime professor of history at the University of South Carolina, who was widely regarded as "the dean of South Carolina historians." Rogers served the Historical Society in various capacities through the years, including editor of the South Carolina Historical Magazine from 1964 to 1970 and president of the society from 1978 to 1980.

For more information, contact Matthew A. Lockhart, editor of the South Carolina Historical Magazine, at [email protected].