{"product_id":"unexampled-courage-the-blinding-of-sgt-isaac-woodard-and-the-awakening-of-president-harry-s-truman-and-judge-j-waties-waring-9780374107895","title":"Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e*The book that inspired the 2021 PBS American Experience documentary, \u003ci\u003eThe Blinding of Isaac Woodard.*\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow the blinding of Sergeant Isaac Woodard changed the course of America's civil rights history.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eRichard Gergel's \u003ci\u003eUnexampled Courage\u003c\/i\u003e details the impact of the blinding of Sergeant Woodard on the racial awakening of President Truman and Judge Waring, and traces their influential roles in changing the course of America's civil rights history. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn February 12, 1946, Sergeant Isaac Woodard, a returning, decorated African American veteran, was removed from a Greyhound bus in Batesburg, South Carolina, after he challenged the bus driver's disrespectful treatment of him. Woodard, in uniform, was arrested by the local police chief, Lynwood Shull, and beaten and blinded while in custody. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePresident Harry Truman was outraged by the incident. He established the first presidential commission on civil rights and his Justice Department filed criminal charges against Shull. In July 1948, following his commission's recommendation, Truman ordered an end to segregation in the U.S. armed forces. An all-white South Carolina jury acquitted Shull, but the presiding judge, J. Waties Waring, was conscience-stricken by the failure of the court system to do justice by the soldier. Waring described the trial as his \"baptism of fire,\" and began issuing major civil rights decisions from his Charleston courtroom, including his 1951 dissent in \u003ci\u003eBriggs v. Elliott \u003c\/i\u003edeclaring public school segregation per se unconstitutional. Three years later, the Supreme Court adopted Waring's language and reasoning in \u003ci\u003eBrown v. Board of Education\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Sarah Crichton Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/22\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780374107895\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 336\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.25lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.30w x 1.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/15\/2018 pg. 56\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/05\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/15\/2018 pg. 77\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/0001 pg. 83\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Richard Gergel","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44848900833461,"sku":"9780374107895","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_dced771f-cfb3-496a-9b69-7714c806c850.jpg?v=1732634190","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/unexampled-courage-the-blinding-of-sgt-isaac-woodard-and-the-awakening-of-president-harry-s-truman-and-judge-j-waties-waring-9780374107895","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}