Dana Ellis was a nursing student in 1973 when she first joined the Coalition. She spent the next two summers providing nursing leadership for the health fairs in West Tennessee. Those fairs took place in rural farming communities where the local leaders’ own histories were steeped in the history of civil rights struggles.
In this video clip, Ellis describes how the Coalition got started in Rossville, and what it was like to work with local leaders.
See the 1973 SHC Annual Report (West Tennessee Project) for more information.
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Jean Carney
Jean was a community leader in the 1960s and 1970s in and around Brownsville, Rossville, and Stanton in West Tennessee. With help from the health fairs conducted by Student Health Coalition (SHC), including students from Meharry and Vanderbilt, Jean helped… Continued
Irwin Venick
Contributed by Irwin Venick, May 2016 I arrived in Nashville, Tenn. on a hot, humid day in August 1971 not really knowing what to expect. One thing for sure was that I was not in Kansas (meaning for me, New… Continued
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Related Resources/Links:
Article: “Health Care for those off the beaten path,” from the Tennessee Valley Authority
Kollar, Robert. “Health care for those off the beaten path.” Tennessee Valley Authority, post-1975. View PDF. More on the Tennessee Valley Authority: Continued