WEST VIRGINIA: Walkout

In Charleston, W.Va., 20 nurses of St. Francis Hospital walked off the job because the hospital had hired its third Negro nurse. Sister Helen Clare, the hospital's administrator, stood her ground. She had sisters of the Order of St. Joseph flown in from nearby cities to take care of the hospital's 130 patients. "St. Francis Hospital will not dismiss any nurse or other employee on account of race," she said; and she had the backing of Bishop John J. Swint of Wheeling and of the local Charleston Gazette. Said the Gazette: "Nowhere in the language of the Nightingale oath is there mention of religion, color or political belief."