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Isaac Woodard

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Isaac Woodard Jr.
Isaac Woodard in 1946
Birth nameIsaac Woodard Jr.
Born(1919-03-18)March 18, 1919
Fairfield County, South Carolina,U.S.
DiedSeptember 23, 1992(1992-09-23)(aged 73)
New York City, U.S.
Buried
Calverton National Cemetery
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1942–46
RankSergeant
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsGood Conduct Medal
American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal

Isaac Woodard Jr.(March 18, 1919 – September 23, 1992) was an Americansoldierand victim ofracial violence.An African-AmericanWorld War IIveteran, on February 12, 1946, hours after beinghonorably dischargedfrom theUnited States Army,he was attacked while still in uniform bySouth Carolinapolice as he was taking a bus home. The attack and his injuries sparked national outrage and galvanized thecivil rights movementin the United States.

The attack left Woodard completely and permanently blind. Due to South Carolina's reluctance to pursue the case, PresidentHarry S. Trumanordered a federal investigation. The police chief, Lynwood Shull, wasindictedand went to trial in federal court in South Carolina, where he was acquitted by anall-white jury.

Suchmiscarriages of justiceby state governments influenced a move towards civil rights initiatives at the federal level. Truman subsequently established a national interracial commission, made a historic speech to theNAACPand the nation in June 1947 in which he described civil rights as a moral priority, submitted a civil rights bill to Congress in February 1948, and issued Executive Orders 9980 and9981on July 26, 1948, desegregating the armed forces and the federal government.

Early life and military service

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Woodard was born inFairfield County, South Carolina,and grew up inGoldsboro, North Carolina.He attended localsegregatedschools, often underfunded for African Americans during theJim Crowyears.

On October 14, 1942, the 23-year-old Woodard enlisted in the United States Army atFort JacksoninColumbia, South Carolina.He served in thePacific theaterin a labor battalion as alongshoremanand was promoted tosergeant.[1]He earned abattle starfor hisAsiatic–Pacific Campaign Medalby unloading ships under enemy fire inNew Guinea,and received theGood Conduct Medalas well as theService medalandWorld War II Victory Medalawarded to all American participants.[2]He received an honorable discharge.

Attack and maiming

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On February 12, 1946, Woodard was on aGreyhound Linesbus traveling fromCamp GordoninAugusta, Georgia,where he had been discharged, en route to rejoin his family in North Carolina. When the bus reached a rest stop just outside Augusta, Woodard asked the bus driver if there was time for him to use a restroom. The driver grudgingly acceded to the request after an argument. Woodard returned to his seat from the rest stop without incident, and the bus departed.[2]

The bus stopped in Batesburg (nowBatesburg-Leesville, South Carolina), nearAiken.Though Woodard had caused no disruption nor did he start another argument, the driver contacted the local police (including Chief Lynwood Shull), who forcibly removed Woodard from the bus. After demanding to see his discharge papers, a number of Batesburg policemen, including Shull, took Woodard to a nearby alleyway, where they beat him repeatedly withnightsticks.They then took Woodard to the town jail and arrested him fordisorderly conduct,accusing him of drinking beer in the back of the bus with other soldiers.

Newspaper accounts vary on what happened next (and accounts sometimes spelled his name as "Woodward" ), but author and attorney Michael R. Gardner said in 2003:

In none of the papers is there any suggestion there was verbal or physical violence on the part of Sergeant Woodard. It's quite unclear what really happened. What did happen with certainty is the next morning when the sun came up, Sergeant Isaac Woodard was blind for life.[3]

During the course of the night in jail, Shull beat and blinded Woodard, who later stated in court that he was beaten for saying "Yes" instead of "Yes, sir".[4]He also had partialamnesiaas a result of his injuries. Woodard further testified that he was punched in the eyes by police several times on the way to the jail, and later repeatedly jabbed in his eyes with abilly club.[5] Newspaper accounts[6]indicate that Woodard's eyes had been "gouged out";historical documents indicate that each globe was ruptured irreparably in the socket.[7]

The following morning, the Batesburg police sent Woodard before the local judge, who found him guilty and fined him fifty dollars. The soldier requested medical assistance, but it took two more days for a doctor to be sent to him. Not knowing where he was and still experiencing amnesia, Woodard ended up in a hospital in Aiken, receiving substandard medical care. Three weeks after he was reported missing by his relatives, Woodard was discovered in the hospital. He was immediately rushed to an Army hospital inSpartanburg.Though his memory had begun to recover by that time, doctors found both eyes were damaged beyond repair.[citation needed]

National outcry

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Although the case was not widely reported at first, it was soon extensively covered in major national newspapers. TheNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP) worked to publicize Woodard's plight, and it also lobbied the state government of South Carolina to address the incident, which it dismissed.

On hisABCradio showOrson Welles Commentaries,actor and filmmakerOrson Wellescrusaded for the punishment of Shull and his accomplices. On the broadcast which was made on July 28, 1946, Welles read anaffidavitwhich was sent to him by the NAACP and signed by Woodard. He criticized the lack of action by the South Carolina government as intolerable and shameful.[8][9]Woodard was the focus of Welles's four subsequent broadcasts.[10]: 329–331 "The NAACP felt that these broadcasts did more than anything else to prompt theJustice Departmentto act on the case, "wrote theMuseum of Broadcastingin a 1988 exhibit on Welles.[11]

Musicians wrote songs about Woodard and the attack. A month after the beating, thecalypsoartistLord Invaderrecorded ananti-racismsong for his albumCalypso at Midnight;it was entitled "God Made Us All", with the last line of the song directly referring to the incident. Later that year,folkartistWoody Guthrierecorded "The Blinding of Isaac Woodard,"which he wrote for his albumThe Great Dust Storm.He said that he wrote the song "...so's you wouldn't be forgetting what happened to this famous Negro soldier less than three hours after he got his Honorable Discharge down inAtlanta.... "[12]

Federal government's response

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On September 19, 1946, seven months after the incident, NAACP Executive SecretaryWalter Francis Whitemet withPresident Harry S. Trumanin theOval Officeto discuss the Woodard case. Gardner writes that when Truman "heard this story in the context of the state authorities of South Carolina doing nothing for seven months, he exploded."[3]The following day, Truman wrote a letter toAttorney GeneralTom C. Clarkdemanding that action be taken to address South Carolina's reluctance to try the case. Six days later, on September 26, Truman directed the Justice Department to open an investigation.

A short investigation followed, and on October 2, Shull and several of his officers were indicted inU.S. District Courtin Columbia. It was within federal jurisdiction because the beating had occurred at a bus stop on federal property and at the time Woodard was in uniform of the armed services. The case was presided over by JudgeJulius Waties Waring.

By all accounts, the trial was a travesty. The localU.S. Attorneycharged with handling the case failed to interview anyone except the bus driver, a decision that Waring, a civil rights proponent, believed was a grossdereliction of duty.Waring later wrote of being disgusted at the way the case was handled at the local level, commenting, "I was shocked by the hypocrisy of my government...in submitting that disgraceful case".[13]

Thedefensedid not perform better. When the defense attorney began to shoutracial epithetsat Woodard, Waring stopped him immediately. During the trial, the defense attorney stated to the all-white jury (blacks were excluded from juries due todisfranchisementof blacks in theSouth) that "if you rule against Shull, then let this South Carolina secede again."[14]After Woodard gave his account of the events, Shull firmly denied it. He claimed that Woodard had threatened him with a gun and that Shull had used his nightclub inself-defense.During this testimony, Shull admitted that he repeatedly struck Woodard in the eyes.

On November 5, after 30 minutes of deliberation (15, according to at least one news report),[4]the jury found Shull not guilty on all charges, despite his admission that he had blinded Woodard. The courtroom broke into applause upon hearing the verdict.[13]The failure to convict Shull was perceived as a political failure by theTruman administration.[citation needed]

Woodard moved north after the trial during theSecond Great Migrationand lived in theNew York Cityarea for the rest of his life. He died aged 73 in theVeterans Administration hospital in the Bronxon September 23, 1992. He was buried with military honors at theCalverton National Cemetery(Section 15, Site 2180) inCalverton, New York.

Aftermath

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Influence on American politics

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In December 1946, after meeting with White and other leaders of the NAACP, and a month after the jury acquitted Shull, Truman established thePresident's Committee on Civil Rightsby Executive Order 9808; a fifteen-member, interracial group, including the President ofGeneral Electric,Charles E. Wilson;academics such asJohn Sloan DickeyfromDartmouth College;andSadie Tanner Alexander,a black attorney for the city ofPhiladelphia,as well as other activists. He asked them to report by the end of 1947.[3]

Truman made a strong speech on civil rights on June 29, 1947, to the NAACP, the first American president to speak to their meeting, which was broadcast by radio from where they met on the steps of theLincoln Memorial.The President said that civil rights were a moral priority, and it was his priority for the federal government. He had seen by Woodard's and other cases that the issue could not be left to state and local governments. He said:

It is my deep conviction that we have reached a turning point in our country's efforts to guarantee freedom and equality to all our citizens. Recent events in the United States and abroad have made us realize that it is more important today than ever before to ensure that all Americans enjoy these rights. When I say all Americans—I mean all Americans.[3]

On February 2, 1948, Truman sent the first comprehensive civil rights bill to Congress.[3]It incorporated many of the thirty-five recommendations of his commission. In July 1948, over the objection of senior military officers, Truman issuedExecutive Order 9981,banning racial discrimination in theU.S. Armed Forces,and Executive Order 9980 to integrate the federal government.[a]This was in response to a number of incidents against black veterans, most notably the Woodard case. The armed forces and federal agencies led the way in the United States for integration of the workplace, public facilities, and schools. Over the decades, the decision meant that both institutions benefited from the contributions of minorities.

Nevertheless, polls showed opposition to Truman's civil rights efforts. They likely cost him some support in his 1948 reelection bid againstThomas Dewey.[15]Although Truman narrowly won, Gardner believes that his continued championing of civil rights as a federal priority cost him much support, especially in theSolid South.[15]Southern Democratshad long exercised outsize political power in Congress, having disfranchised most blacks there since the turn of the 20th century, but benefiting byapportionmentbased on total population. Truman's efforts threatened other changes since numerous communities across the country had restrictive covenants that were racially discriminatory. Because of his low approval ratings and because of a bad showing in early primaries, Truman chose not to seek re-election in 1952, though he could have done so. He had been exempted from the term limitations which are imposed by the22nd amendment.

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Welles revisited the Woodard case on the May 7, 1955, broadcast of hisBBCTV series,Orson Welles' Sketch Book.[16]: 417 Woody Guthrielater recalled: "I sung 'The Blinding of Isaac Woodard' in theLewisohn Stadium(in New York City) one night for more than 36,000 people, and I got the loudest applause I've ever got in my whole life. "[12]

American: An Odyssey to 1947,a documentary byDanny Wuthat looks at the Woodard story through the lens of his family members was released in 2023.[17]

Other events

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Woodard's "drunk and disorderly" conviction was vacated in 2018.[18]

A group of veterans which was led by Don North, a retired Army major fromCarrollton, Georgia,received permission to erect ahistorical markerin honor of Woodard in Batesburg-Leesville in South Carolina.[19]In 2019 the marker was unveiled.[18]The bottom part of the marker was written inBraille.[18]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Facilities had been segregated under PresidentWoodrow Wilson.

References

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  1. ^Andrew Myers,Resonant Ripples in a Global Pond: The Blinding of Isaac Woodard,"Honorable Discharge Paperwork", presented at American Humanities Conference, 2002
  2. ^abWoodard testimony, November 1947 Part 2.
  3. ^abcdeGardner, Michael R. (September 26, 2003)."Harry Truman and Civil Rights: Moral Courage and Political Risks".University of Virginia NewsMakers, TV News.University of Virginia.Archived fromthe originalon September 17, 2006.
  4. ^ab"U.S. Police Chief Acquitted of Assault on Negro".The Canberra Times.November 7, 1946. p. 1.
  5. ^Myers (2002),Blinding Isaac Woodard:Woodard testimony, November 1947 Part 3.
  6. ^While newspaper accounts
  7. ^Myers (2002),Blinding Isaac Woodard:"Isaac Woodard, Jr.: Medical reports"
  8. ^Orson Welles Commentaries— "Affidavit of Isaac Woodward", July 28, 1946.
  9. ^"Orson Welles Commentaries".The Paley Center for Media.RetrievedMarch 27,2014.
  10. ^Leaming, Barbara,Orson Welles, A Biography.New York:Viking,1985ISBN0-670-52895-1
  11. ^Orson Welles on the Air: The Radio Years.New York:The Museum of Broadcasting,catalog for exhibition: October 28 – December 3, 1988, p. 66.
  12. ^ab"The Blinding of Isaac Woodward" (Woody Guthrie; 1946)ArchivedJanuary 14, 2005, at theWayback Machine,Fortune City
  13. ^abKluger, Richard(2004).Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America's Struggle for Equality(revised and enlarged ed.). New York: Knopf. p. 298.ISBN9780375414770.
  14. ^The Stan Iverson Memorial Library, Infoshop & Anarchist ArchivesArchivedMarch 10, 2005, at theWayback Machine
  15. ^abGardner, Michael.Harry Truman and Civil Rights: Moral Courage and Political Risks,Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois Press, 2002.
  16. ^Welles, Orson, and Peter Bogdanovich,This is Orson Welles.New York: HarperCollins Publishers 1992ISBN0-06-016616-9
  17. ^Featured, An Odyssey to 1947; says, Reviews Film Threat-Time Warner Entertainment (September 20, 2023)."American: An Odyssey to 1947 Featured, Reviews Film Threat".RetrievedOctober 16,2023.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^abc"Town honors an African-American WWII veteran blinded in a 1946 police beating".CNN. February 11, 2019.RetrievedFebruary 14,2019.
  19. ^Myers, Christina L. (May 28, 2018)."Civil Rights Historians tell little known story of WWII vet".Associated Press.

Further reading

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  • Egerton, John.Speak Now Against the Day.Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1994.
  • Gardner, Michael.Harry Truman and Civil Rights: Moral Courage and Political Risks.Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois Press, 2002.
  • Gergel, Richard.Unexampled Courage: the Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring.FSG, 2019.
  • Yarborough, Tinsley.A Passion for Justice: J. Waties Waring and Civil Rights,New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
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