Unexampled Courage
The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10027905 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter Wallenstein (Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 107 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 264-265 |
| Publication date | 2020-03-08 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of American History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8723 • E-ISSN: 1945-2314 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/jahist/jaaa152 |
| OpenAlex | W3037825162 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
On February 12, 1946, a decorated black World War II veteran, Isaac Woodard—back from the Pacific front, discharged in Georgia—headed home by bus to South Carolina, still wearing his U.S. Army uniform. He was disrespected by the white bus driver who took exception when Woodard, defying the region's racial protocols, asserted: “I am a man just like you” (p. 15). Directed to disembark at the next stop, Woodard was met there by the town's police chief, Lynwood Shull, who rapped him repeatedly on the head with his blackjack, leaving him permanently and totally blind. Richard Gergel effectively pairs the biographies of U.S. District Judge J. Waties Waring and President Harry S. Truman, relating both to Woodard's horrific experience. A number of Truman biographers have incorporated the Woodard story, and Tinsley E. Yarbrough's 1987 biography of Waring, Passion for Justice, emphasizes it, but Gergel makes a strong case for its critical importance to key developments in national politics and racial policy in mid-twentieth-century America
Biography · Courage · Economic Justice · Passion · Passions · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theology · White (mutation · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Race, History, and American Society
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2023 (4) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |