Isaac Woodard

Isaac Woodard Jr.
Isaac Woodard in 1946
Birth name	Isaac Woodard Jr.
Born	(1919-03-18)March 18, 1919 Fairfield County, South Carolina, U.S.
Died	September 23, 1992(1992-09-23) (aged 73) New York City, U.S.
Buried	Calverton National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1942–46
Rank	Sergeant
Battles/wars	World War II New Guinea campaign
Awards	Good Conduct Medal American Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal

Isaac Woodard Jr. (March 18, 1919 – September 23, 1992) was an American soldier and victim of racial violence. An African-American 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 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 police chief, Lynwood Shull, was indicted and went to trial in federal court in South Carolina, where he was acquitted by an all-white jury.

Such miscarriages of justice by state governments influenced a move towards civil rights initiatives at the federal level. Truman subsequently established a national interracial commission, made a historic speech to the NAACP and the nation in June 1947 in which he described civil rights as a moral priority, submitted a civil rights bill to Congress in February 1948, and issued Executive Orders 9980 and 9981 on June 26, 1948, desegregating the armed forces and the federal government.