Sergeant Isaac Woodard
by
John C Abercrombie
Recent posts have focused on women who contributed to society by being a part of the fight for equal treatment.
• Those women were Elizabeth Jennings, thrown off of a street car in New York in 1854 while dressed in her Sunday finery on her way to church.
• Sarah Mae Flemming Brown assaulted by the bus driver as she was getting off the bus after being ordered to give up her seat.
• Claudette Colvin a 15 year old dragged off the bus and booked into an adult jail for failing to give up her seat to a young White woman.
This post takes a look at what happened to a man, riding the bus. A decorated man who had served with honor in the United States Armed forces during World War II.
Isaac Woodard, like so many Black Americans have shown strong patriotism and joined the United States Army. Just hours after being honorably discharged on February 12, 1946 he was attacked by a South Carolina police chief Lynwood Schull, who gouged out the eyes of Sergeant Woodard. His injuries were permanent and left Woodard completely blinded.
This police attack on the unarmed soldier, still in uniform, sparked national outrage and resulted in a number of changes including action by the President of the United States, Harry Truman to take unprecedented steps in the area of Civil Rights.
President Harry S Truman was an unlikely leader of the United States in the area of Civil Rights for all.
Truman grew up in a segregated town in pro-slavery Missouri. His grandparents on both sides were slave owners. Truman’s mother, Martha Young hated President Abraham Lincoln so much that when she visited the White House after the election of Truman, she said that she would rather sleep on the floor than stay in the Lincoln Bedroom. Very deep sentiments, indeed.
Despite his upbringing and strong personal beliefs, Truman became the first president since the Reconstruction Period to commit the United States to Civil Rights for African Americans.
On July 26, 1948, Truman signed Executive Order 9981. “There shall be equality for treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.” Truman also signed an executive order to desegregate the federal work force, the same day.
When Truman signed Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948, he declared “there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.” That same day, he also signed an executive order to desegregate the federal workforce.
It was necessary to desegregate the federal workforce because under the Administration of Woodrow Wilson because Wilson imposed segregation on the entire federal workforce. Blacks who were in supervisory positions were demoted or fired. Employees were physically segregated, in the work spaces by physical barriers, separate bathrooms by race were established. Blacks were forced out of all positions that required contact with the public.
Why did Truman make these drastic moves? Keep in mind that he was up for reelection. Many would have shied away from taking such high profile action before an election, but not Truman. He had an affinity for the Military and was deeply touched by the incident involving Isaac Woodard, the verdict in the trial and other events that he referred to often during his administration.
Truman acted knowing the deep sentiments of the country and even in his own family. This is an example of a man acting on what is right rather than who is right! Courage in action!
Isaac Woodward, Jr. was born March 18, 1919 in Fairfield, South Carolina, but grew up in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He enlisted in the United States Army at Fort Jackson, located in Columbia, South Carolina on October 14, 1942 and served in the Pacific.
Following the honorable discharge, Woodward boarded a Greyhound bus for a trip home. In 1946, buses did not have restrooms, and it was customary to make stops so riders could use a restroom.
Because of segregation, Blacks and Whites did not use the same restrooms and in this case, the Black restrooms were not conveniently located, requiring a trip to a distant part of the bus station. Woodard inquired about the time necessary and the bus driver disrespected him. Woodard asked the driver not to disrespect him. At this point, it seemed that the “conflict” was over. However, at the next stop, the bus driver contacted the Batesville, South Carolina police chief Linwood Shull, who boarded the bus with a deputy and beat the uniformed sergeant, still in uniform, arrested him. The attack was so severe that Woodard had his eyes gouged out.
Still blind and without medical treatment, he was hauled to court and convicted of disorderly conduct and although there was nothing but the word of the police, convicted of public drunkenness.
Woodard was in jail 2 days before he received even substandard treatment for his injuries. The injuries left Woodard permanently blinded. Shull admitted that he had poked Woodard’s eyes with his Billy club.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) took up Woodard’s case, pressing military officials to provide assistance. They also called for action against Chief Shull. President of the United States, Harry Truman expressed outrage over the assault on the veteran.
Chief Shull was tried in Federal Court by an All White, All Male jury. The jury deliberated for a short time, with it being reported as being as short as 15 minutes, or as long as 30 minutes. All White, All Male juries typically in the South always found Whites innocent of even the most horrendous crimes against Blacks.
Note: juries are picked from the voting population and in many areas, Blacks were disqualified from voting by the use of any police contact, even an arrest with no conviction. Poll taxes and literacy tests also were used in a discriminatory manner to prevent Blacks and in many cases women of all races from voting and serving on juries. Today, the disenfranchisement of Black voters perpetuates the same condition.
These actions prompted President Harry Truman to create the Presidents Committee on Civil Rights which published its report in 1947. This report led to the desegregation of the military in 1948.
Many Blacks had enlisted into the military to show support of America and with the hope that if they showed loyalty and a willingness to fight and die if necessary that they would gain some respect as citizens of this great country.
Many Blacks have been lynched for merely wearing the uniform in public.
Many Blacks have died for this country without gaining equality. During World War I, the most decorated unit and the longest serving unit, the 369th “Harlem Hellfighters” who suffered debilitating injuries were only given 29% disability because at 30% they would receive a pension. Many of these brave soldiers paid the ultimate price with their service.
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Videos
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AAHIAH Episode #16: “THE ISAAC WOODARD STORY”
In 1946, just hours after being honorably discharged from the army, Sergeant Isaac Woodard Jr. was attacked by South Carolina police officers…while still in uniform. The injuries he sustained left him completely and permanently blind. This brutal attack sparked national outrage in both the Black and White communities. Famous actors, athletes, musicians and politicians of the day lent their support for Sgt. Woodard and in so doing, galvanized the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
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Book
Harry Truman and Civil Rights: Moral Courage and Political Risks
Book Talk | Judge Richard Gergel’s “Unexampled Courage”
A book talk by Judge Richard Gergel, U.S. District Judge of the U. S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, followed by a conversation with: Professor Randall Kennedy, Michael R. Klein Professor of Law; Professor Kenneth Mack, Lawrence D. Biele Professor of Law; and Professor Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law.
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Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring
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Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for Equality
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Video – song
688. The Blinding of Isaac Woodard (Woody Guthrie)
Isaac Woodard (1919-1992) was an African-American veteran of WW2 who was beaten and maimed only hours after being discharged from the US army. Still in uniform, he was left permanently blind after suffering from a ruptured cornea during an encounter with the South Carolina police on February 14, 1946. The sheriff involved claimed he had struck Woodard only once in self-defense, very different from Woodard’s story. The case was not widely reported immediately but it soon became a major issue, with extensive newspaper coverage, when the NAACP campaigned for the South Carolina state government to take action, which they had been reluctant to do. One significant campaigner was film-maker Orson Welles whose radio broadcast about the incident can be heard on YouTube.
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Michael Kors Women’s Jet Set Item Crossbody Bag
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Will Kaufman – The Blinding Of Isaac Woodard, The Ferguson Brothers’ Killing
The Long Road To Peekskill a Musical Documentary Part Four. Holy Trinity Church Ventnor Isle Of Wight 17th February 2016. The long road to Peekskill presents the story of Woody Guthrie’s personal transformation from a youthful Oklahoma racist to the ardent anti- racist. Will Kaufman is a Professor Of American Culture at The University Of Central Lancashire.
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Memorial for Woodard
Isaac Woodard Memorial – Allen Marcus Harter reporting 2/13/2019
In the small town of Batesburg-Leesville, SC comes a story you probably did not hear about in school. A story that had a major impact on the Civil Rights movement in the South.
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