American Experience

Chapter 1 | The Blinding of Isaac Woodard

Preview: Season 33 Episode 3 | 10m 31s | Video has closed captioning.

In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a Black army sergeant on his way home to South Carolina after serving in WWII, was pulled from a bus for arguing with the driver. The local chief of police savagely beat him, leaving him unconscious and permanently blind.

Aired: 03/30/21

Rating: NR

The full episode is no longer available for online streaming. Why?

Please continue to enjoy extra(s) from this episode. The full episode is still available for purchase through the "Buy Now" links.

Buy Now:

Problems Playing Video? | Closed Captioning

Corporate sponsorship for American Experience is provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance and Consumer Cellular. Major funding by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Sponsored By:

American Experience.

Explore Free Resources
She Resisted

Interactive

She Resisted

Celebrate the strategies and tactics of the movement in a new interactive experience. She Resisted explores the final decade of the women’s suffrage movement through its most powerful images, brought to life with color for the first time.

Explore

More History Shows

  • American Masters
  • The Black Church
  • Secrets of the Dead
  • The Vietnam War | Broadcast Version
  • The Dust Bowl
  • Origin of Everything