Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier

On February 12, 1946, a Black soldier was heading home from World War II, when he was brutally beaten by a white police officer in South Carolina. The soldier's name was Isaac Woodard. No one knew the identity of the officer who beat Woodard. No one even knew the town where it happened.  

When the famous radio host Orson Welles heard about the crime, he pledged to solve the mystery, week-by-week, on the air.  In our new series, Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier, we tell the story of an incident in a small southern town 80 years ago that led to the desegregation of the U.S. military. 

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Episode 1: The Bus Ride

After serving three years in the Pacific during World War II, Sergeant Isaac Woodard Jr. was honorably discharged on February 12, 1946. He boarded a Greyhound bus to South Carolina to be reunited with his wife. But the journey didn't go as planned.

Sergeant Isaac Woodard, Jr.

Orson Welles

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Episode 2: Officer X

By the summer of 1946, the case of Isaac Woodard was gaining national attention thanks to the NAACP and Orson Welles. Welles was investigating the case, week-by-week, on his radio show. He had vowed to uncover the identity of Officer X.

Corine Johnson, now 98, witnessed the beating of Isaac Woodard when she was a teenager, but was afraid to report what she saw.

In August 1946, after hearing Orson Welles broadcast, an eyewitness named Lincoln Miller comes forward.

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Episode 3: The Trial

The officer who beat and blinded Isaac Woodard has finally been named. But demanding accountability and getting it were two different things—especially in the Jim Crow South. This week, Officer X stands trial, and the President of the United States takes notice.

Isaac Woodard and his mother (courtesy of Laura Williams)

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Credits:

This series was produced by Mycah Hazel, Nellie Gilles and Joe Richman. It was edited by Deborah George and Ben Shapiro, and mixed by Ben Shapiro. We had help from Alissa Escarce. Thanks to the eyewitnesses and family members who shared their stories for this series:

Laura Williams, Isaac Woodard's great-niece and author of I am Sergeant Isaac Woodard, Jr.: How My Story Changed America. Beatrice Welles, Orson Welles's daughter; and Corine Johnson, believed to be the last-surviving witness to these events.

Additional thanks James L. Felder Sr. of the NAACP; Professor Bobby Donaldson of the University of South Carolina; and Judge Richard Gergel author of Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring. Orson Welles broadcasts are housed at Indiana University's Lilly Library. Music in this series from Stellwagen Symponette, Duke Ellington, and APM Music. We have funding from NEA, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, NYSCA, and from listeners like you. Live event sponsorship from SC Humanites.