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Waverly B. Woodson, 1922-2005
More than 300 students, faculty and staff members, alumni and visitors and friends of The Lincoln University, joined the March 12 program to honor the late Waverly Bernard Woodson, decorated World War II veteran and 1950 graduate of Lincoln. Held at the historic Mary Dod Brown Chapel, the program also announced the donation of Woodson’s World War II items to the Langston Hughes Memorial Library Special Collections and Archives.
“There is a rapidly growing interest in the long-ignored heroic efforts of African-American World War II soldiers,” said Dr. Cheryl Renée Gooch, Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and organizer of the commemorative program. “This unique collection of his items will ensure that all Lincoln students know that a graduate of this institution played a role in the liberation of France and the ending of the Nazi occupation of Europe. The collection includes citations and medals, correspondence, photographs and news clip files, all of which are valuable to our teaching and interpretation of American history and world history,” Gooch said.
Dean Cheryl Renée Gooch and Joann Woodson, wife of the late Waverly Woodson
Woodson was a 21-year student who suspended his studies at Lincoln to enlist in the army where he received training as a medic. This brave, 21-year-old medic was a member of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, the first Black unit in the segregated American Army to come ashore at Normandy Beach on June 6, 1944. Woodson tended his fellow soldiers while himself severely wounded and under German attack. He treated hundreds of men and saved numerous lives, efforts for which he received multiple citations and medals, including the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Following his discharge from the Army service, Woodson returned to Lincoln to continue his studies and was active in the academic and social life of the University. He was initiated into the NU Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha in 1947. He graduated in 1950 with a degree in Biology and re-enlisted in the Army.
Organizations including the National World War II Museum have sought Woodson’s materials. However, the Woodson family deems Lincoln the appropriate repository for this unique collection.