Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier 1: The Bus Ride

In 1946, Orson Welles, already famous as the director of Citizen Kane, used his national radio show to investigate the brutal beating of Isaac Woodard, a Black soldier, by a white police officer in South Carolina. Woodard was attacked on the day of his discharge, and the assault resulted in permanent blindness. Welles's broadcasts featured Woodard's affidavit and Welles's passionate condemnation of the crime, vowing to uncover the identity of the officer, referred to as "Officer X." Corrine Johnson, a witness to the event, recounts seeing the attack. The NAACP recognized the power of Welles's platform to bring attention to the case, which became a catalyst for the desegregation of the U.S. military.