by Jerome Pearson
June 2020
I recently came upon a story that I had not previously heard of. I had heard of stories similar to the one I am about to describe, but until recently, I had not heard of this particular story.
In the process of reading an article about recommended books, I came across a book titled “Unexamined Courage.” The book immediately sparked my interest because a key incident in the book occurred in my home state of South Carolina and was somewhat of precursor to a case for which I am very familiar: Briggs versus Eliot which led to the Brown versus the Board of Education case in 1954.
The subtitle of the book is “The Blinding of Sergeant Isaac Woodard.” Woodard was an African American Military Veteran who was returning home following the end of World War 11. He had served in the Pacific Theater and had made tremendous contributions toward our success in that war.
On the night of February 12, 1946, Mr. Woodard boarded a Greyhound bus in Augustus, Georgia for the last leg of his trip returning from overseas. I can imagine how happy he had been returning home after nearly three years under extremely dangerous circumstances. As he got on the bus along with other soldiers, he was still proudly wearing his uniform with his Sergeants Stripes; something that I am sure he had worked hard for during those days.
He and other soldiers were celebrating their return home, and as such, they did have a few drinks. During one of the stops on their way from Georgia, Sergeant Woodward asked the driver to allow him time to use the restroom. The driver insisted that that the sergeant was making him late for scheduled stops. As they continued on, the driver and Sergeant Woodard got into an argument. When the bus entered the town of Batesburg, 35 miles southwest of Columbia, South Carolina, the driver insisted that Sergeant to needed get off the bus. He was no longer allowed as a passenger. Sergeant Woodward refused to get off because he had not arrived at his designation, which is what his ticket was for.
In the town of Batesburg, the driver got off the bus to find law enforcement because he wanted Sergeant Woodard to get off the bus and to stay off.
After arriving at the scene, the police chief, Lynwood Shull, and another officer ordered Mr. Woodard off the bus. Sergeant Woodard, although in Uniform, was arrested for Disorderly Conduct. As he was being hand-cuffed, folks on the bus could see the sheriff striking the sergeant in the head with his “blackjack” before pushing him into the police vehicle. “Law-enforcement officers during this era routinely carried blackjacks, which were baton-type weapons, generally leather, with shotgun pellets or other metal packed into the head and with a coiled-spring handle.”
What the crew did not see were the multiple blows across the face and eyes that Sergeant Woodard would later receive as he was being taken to jail. The next day, Woodard was taken to see the local Judge. But before leaving his cell, he kept telling law enforcement that he could not see. They tried to clean the blood off his eyes and had him rinse them with water, but that likely made it worse.
Appearing before the judge, the police chief who arrested him stated that he had only struck him once. Woodard claimed he was struck numerous times in the face and that the blackjack was dug into his eyes. The judge believed the Sheriff. Sergeant Woodard was convicted for drunken and disorderly conduct and was required to pay a fine which forfeited all the savings he had after the war.
Following the hearing, Sergeant Woodard was free to go home. But it was obvious that Woodard had no ability to get home, could not see, and was in severe pain. It took several days for the police to take him to the hospital. He was later driven to the Veterans Hospital in Columbia. He remained in the hospital for two months. The beatings he suffered while in police custody caused him permanent blindness.
After leaving the hospital 2 months later, his wife abruptly left him because she could not deal with a blind person. Woodard family would later move him to Harlem, NY.
The story eventually got the attention of the NAACP. As news of this attack circulated in the national media, President Harry Truman created the first President’s Committee on Civil Rights. The NAACP was able to get the story to esteemed Actor Orson Welles who had a radio show. Orson was one of the more distinguished actors around during those days and had the famous radio broadcast one evening called “War of The Word” which had caused panic to listeners for genuinely believing that America was being invaded.
Orson was able to broadcast the story of Sergeant Isaac Woodard over the radio which incensed many people throughout the world. Only then, was the police chief identified as Lynwood Shull, and who was later indicted and put on trial in South Carolina.
During the trial, the police chief claimed that Woodard had tried to take his blackjack and that he had only struck Sergeant Woodard once. Medical records never shown in court disproved Chief Shull’s claim. It took 28 minutes for an all-white jury to acquit the police chief.
Here was a soldier beaten in the face with Blackjack causing permanent blinding, but the jury had no problem acquitting the police chief! The jury was able to believe the police chief because only his life mattered to them.
If they were asked back then, the Jurors might have claimed that “all lives matter!”
However, it would appear that the life of Sergeant Isaac Woodard, a World War 11 veteran, did not matter to them. The fact that he had served his country on their behalf made no difference to them.
Today, many people don’t want to be specifically reminded that lives of men like Sergeant Isaac Woodard matter also.
Granted, it would be ideal and quite wonderful if this reminder were not needed!
But until then?
Jerome