Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier 2: Officer X

About this episode

This episode continues the story of Isaac Woodard and the investigation led by Orson Welles into police brutality in 1946.

Last week, we shared the story of Isaac Woodard, a Black soldier who was brutally beaten by a white police officer in South Carolina. No one knew the name of the police officer. Or even the town where it happened. Not even Woodard himself. By the summer of '46, the case was gaining national attention thanks to Orson Welles, who was investigating the crime, week-by-week, on his radio show. Today, episode 2 of our series Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier, about an incident in a small, southern town that became a spark in the growing civil rights movement. --- Thanks to Richard Gergel for his book Unexampled Courage and Indiana University’s Lilly Library for archival audio. Music from Matthias Bossi and Duke Ellington. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Topics covered

• civil rights movement
• historical investigation
• radio history
• police brutality
• African American history

Keywords

• Isaac Woodard
• Orson Welles
• civil rights
• police officer
• South Carolina
• historical audio
• documentary

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Indiana University’s Lilly Library

Books & works: Unexampled Courage

More episodes of Radio Diaries

• 30 Years of Teenage Diaries · June 4, 2026 · 16 min
• The Almost Astronaut · May 21, 2026 · 22 min
• Willie McGee and the Traveling Electric Chair · May 7, 2026 · 28 min
• Sealab: A Home on the Ocean Floor · April 23, 2026 · 20 min
• Guest Spotlight: William Parker's War on Slave Catchers · April 2, 2026 · 39 min
• Detained: A Homecoming · March 27, 2026 · 16 min