Isaac Woodard Jr (1919 - 1992)

Born 8 Mar 1919 in Winnsboro, Fairfield, South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Died 23 Sep 1992 at age 73 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States

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Biography

Isaac Woodard Jr is Notable.

Sergeant TEC4 Isaac Woodard Jr served in the United States Army in World War II
Service started: 29 Sep 1942
Unit(s):
Service ended: 12 Feb 1946

Isaac Woodard Jr is buried in Calverton National Cemetery, Calverton, NY.

Isaac Woodard was a decorated World War II veteran. On February 12, 1946, hours after being honorably discharged from the United States Army, he was attacked while still in uniform by South Carolina police as he was taking a bus home. The attack and his injuries which caused him to be permanently blind, sparked national outrage and galvanized the civil rights movement in the United States.^[1]

Isaac Woodard was born March 18, 1919 in Winnsboro, Fairfield county, South Carolina and grew up in Goldsboro, North Carolina where he attended local segregated schools. He was the son of Isaac Woodard and Eliza Arnold.

1920 CENSUS - Township 12, Fairfield, South Carolina ^[2]

Household Role Sex Age Birthplace

Isaac Woodward Head M 37 South Carolina

Liza Woodward Wife F 25 South Carolina

Ida Woodward Daughter F 12 South Carolina

Annie Woodward Daughter F 8 South Carolina

Artha Woodward Son M 7 South Carolina

Unis Woodward Daughter F 5 South Carolina

Bessie Woodward Daughter F 2 South Carolina

Isaac Woodward Son M 0 South Carolina

1940 CENSUS - White Oak, Township 12, Fairfield, South Carolina ^[3]

Household Role Sex Age Birthplace

Isaac Woodward Head M 56 South Carolina

Liza Woodward Wife F 52 South Carolina

Eunice Woodward Daughter F 24 South Carolina

Isaac Woodward Son M 21 South Carolina

Rosalee Woodward Daughter F 18 South Carolina

Nannie Ellen Woodward Daughter F 16 South Carolina

Saul Woodward Son M 13 South Carolina

Samuel Young Grandson M 6 South Carolina

Preston Davis Grandson M 4 South Carolina

Margaret Watkins Granddaughter F 2 South Carolina

Bobby Johnson Grandson M 0 South Carolina

Marriage

Isaac married Rosie Scruggs on August 23, 1941 in Winnsboro, Fairfield, South Carolina. He was 22 and signed the marriage license and subsequent marriage document as Isaac Junior Woodard. The bride was 20 and signed her name Rosie Scruggs on the marriage license and Rosie Woodard on the marriage document. Witness was Estell Scruggs. The ceremony was performed by Horace Taylor, Judge of Probate for Fairfield county.^[4][5]

Military Service

Enlistment Date - September 29, 1942^[6]

Enlistment Place - Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina

Rank - US Army WWII Sgt.

Battles - New Guinea, World War II

Military Medals

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal

Army Good Conduct Medal

American Campaign Medal

World War II Victory Medal

On February 12, 1946, hours after being honorably discharged from the United States Army, he was attacked while still in uniform by South Carolina police as he was taking a bus home. The attack and his injuries sparked national outrage and galvanized the civil rights movement in the United States.

The attack left Woodard completely and permanently blind. Due to South Carolina's reluctance to pursue the case, President Harry S. Truman ordered a federal investigation. The sheriff, Lynwood Shull, was indicted and went to trial in federal court in South Carolina, where he was acquitted by an all-white jury.

Mr. Woodard recovered in a veteran’s hospital and eventually moved to New York, but without his wife, who had left him after the incident. His family in New York helped to care for him until he died at the age of 73 on September 23, 1992 in The Bronx, New York City, New York and was buried in Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton, Suffolk, New York.^[7][8]

From Woody Guthrie in his song “The Blinding of Isaac Woodard,” 1946:

“It’s now you’ve heard my story, there’s one thing I can’t see,

How you could treat a human like they have treated me;

I thought I fought on the islands to get rid of their kind;

But I can see the fight lots plainer now that I am blind.”

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia:Isaac_Woodard
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6Z6-PYJ), Isaac Woodward in household of Isaac Woodward, Township 12, Fairfield, South Carolina, United States; citing ED 67, sheet 1B, line 59, family 11, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1695; FHL microfilm 1,821,695.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4D3-83B), Isaac Woodward in household of Isaac Woodward, White Oak, Township 12, Fairfield, South Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 20-17, sheet 1A, line 27, family 6, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 3807.
4. ↑ "South Carolina, County Marriage Licenses, 1911-1951", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:89NQ-2HZM), Issac Woodward, 1941.
5. ↑ "South Carolina, County Marriage Licenses, 1911-1951", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:89NQ-2HN2 : 8 October 2020), Isaac Woodard, 1941.
6. ↑ "United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8TY-6JB), Isaac Jr Woodard, enlisted 29 Sep 1942, Ft Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 1263923, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
7. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VSTS-V6V), Isaac Woodard, 23 Sep 1992; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
8. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #1343791

• United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: 3962; Sheet Number: 19; Enumeration District: 3-933

SEE ALSO:

• Wikipedia:Good_Conduct_Medal_(United_States)
• Wikipedia:Asiatic–Pacific_Campaign_Medal)
• Wikipedia:American_Campaign_Medal
• Wikipedia:World_War_II_Victory_Medal_(United_States)
• Wikipedia:Calverton_National_Cemetery
• https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6077345
• Isaac Woodard's Honourable Discharge Paper

ON YOUTUBE:

• Orson Welles Commentary: Affidavit of Isaac Woodard
• Orson Welles Radio Broadcast after his commentary on Affidavit of Isaac Woodard
• Unexampled Courage: A Forgotten Piece of Civil Rights History
• Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt Isaac Woodard and The Awakening of President Harry S. Truman
• Isaac Woodard's Eyes - a song by Angelia Easterling
• Memorial Erected in 2019 in Batesburg-Leesville

EXECUTIVE ORDER by PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN

• Executive Order by President Harry S. Truman Because of Isaac Woodard's Case

HAPPENINGS in 2019

• How the Blinding of a SC Soldier Kicked Off the Civil Rights Era
• https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/11/09/the-blinding-of-a-wwii-vet-opened-americas-eyes-to-the-evil-of-jim-crow/
• 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.
• https://lithub.com/an-account-of-the-blinding-of-sgt-isaac-woodard-by-the-police-officer-lynwood-shull/