The NAACP and Its Architects

American Experience

History Series / 15 Seasons

American Experience, TV's most-watched history series, brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

Watch Latest: S37 E1

1h 52m / TV-14

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Chapter 1 | The Blinding of Isaac Woodard

10m 31s

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.

Judge Julius Waties Waring

1m 7s

Julius Waties Waring presided over the trial of a white police chief who brutally beat and blinded Black soldier Isaac Woodard in 1946. He became an unexpected civil rights champion with rulings on several pivotal cases in the 1940s.

Extended Trailer | Blinding of Isaac Woodard

2m

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.

Trailer | Blinding of Isaac Woodard | American Experience

30s

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.

The Voice of Marian Anderson

1m 9s

In 1925, 28-year-old Marian Anderson won a New York Philharmonic competition that drew national attention. But most signing opportunities in the U.S. remained closed to Anderson because she was Black.

Extended Trailer | Voice of Freedom | American Experience

1m 40s

Hailed as a voice that “comes around once in a hundred years” by maestros in Europe and widely celebrated by both white and black audiences at home, Marian Anderson's fame hadn’t been enough to spare her from the indignities and outright violence of racism and segregation.

Walter F. White

1m 18s

In 1930, Walter White took over as executive secretary of the NAACP. When the Daughters of the American Revolution barred Marian Anderson from singing at Constitution Hall. White had an inspiration that transcended the whole debate: a free, outdoor concert on the Lincoln Memorial steps.

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