On the Media Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier
18 snips
Feb 18, 2026 
Orson Welles, iconic actor-director famous for Citizen Kane, uses his 1946 radio platform to investigate a brutal assault. Narrators and interviewees from Radio Diaries provide historical context and eyewitness testimony about Isaac Woodard’s blinding. The story follows the crime, the baffling mystery of where it happened, and the mobilization that pushed the case into the national spotlight.
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Witness At The Scene
- Corrine Johnson witnessed a Black soldier being beaten outside a theater and never forgot it.
- Her first-hand memory anchors the episode's recounting of the 1946 attack on Isaac Woodard.
Veteran Blinded After Bus Dispute
- Richard Gergel recounts Isaac Woodard's bus confrontation that escalated after a restroom request.
- The officer beat Woodard repeatedly and struck his eyes, leaving him permanently blind.
Uniformed Victim Sparked National Outrage
- The brutality against a uniformed veteran galvanized the NAACP and public outrage.
- That moral clarity helped elevate the case from local crime to national civil-rights attention.