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Unexampled courage : the blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring / Richard Gergel.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania - Closed Stacks USC E 185.61 .G377 2019
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- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Gergel, Richard, author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Waring, Julius Waties, 1880-1968.
- Waring, Julius Waties.
- Woodard, Isaac, 1919-1992--Trials, litigation, etc.
- Woodard, Isaac.
- African American soldiers--Trials, litigation, etc.
- African American soldiers.
- World War, 1939-1945--Veterans--Trials, litigation, etc.
- World War, 1939-1945.
- African Americans--Civil rights--United States--History--20th century.
- African Americans.
- African Americans--Violence against--South Carolina--History--20th century.
- South Carolina--Race relations--History--20th century.
- South Carolina.
- African Americans--Civil rights--History--20th century.
- Race Relations--United States--personal narratives.
- Veterans.
- Race relations.
- African Americans--Civil rights.
- Trials.
- United States.
- Medical Subjects:
- Race Relations--United States--personal narratives.
- Genre:
- Trials, litigation, etc.
- History.
- Physical Description:
- 324 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Edition:
- First edition.
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, [2019]
- Summary:
- "A nonfiction book detailing the case of Isaac Woodard, its influence on Judge J. Waties Waring, and how Waring went on to lay the groundwork for landmark civil rights rulings"-- Provided by publisher.
- February 12, 1946. Sergeant Isaac Woodard, a decorated African American veteran, was removed from a Greyhound bus in Batesburg, South Carolina after challenging the driver's treatment of him. He was arrested by the local police chief, Lynwood Shull, and beaten and blinded while in custody. Outraged, President Harry Truman established the first presidential commission on civil rights; the Justice Department filed criminal charges against Shull. An all-white journey acquitted Shull, but Judge Waring was conscience-stricken and began to challenge the foundations of racial segregation. Gergel details the racial awakening of President Truman and Judge Waring, and traces their influential roles in changing the course of America's civil rights history. -- adapted from jacket.
- Contents:
- Introduction : a collision of two worlds
- Part I : The blinding. A tragic detour
- A wave of terror
- "The place was Batesburg"
- The bystander government
- Part II : The awakening. "My God ... we have to do something"
- The Isaac Woodard road show
- The gradualist
- A "baptism in racial prejudice"
- Part III : The call to action. "I shall fight to end evil like this"
- "We know the way. We need only the will"
- Confronting the American dilemma
- There will be no fines
- Fighting the "battle royal"
- Driving the "last nail in the coffin of segregation"
- Conclusion : unexampled courage.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Local Notes:
- The Pennsylvania Abolition Society Complementary Collection.
- ISBN:
- 9780374107895
- 0374107890
- OCLC:
- 1036096926
- Publisher Number:
- 40028871945
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