The Boston City Council has designated a major intersection in the Back Bay in honor of Enoch “Woody” Woodhouse, a Roxbury resident who is one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen.
In honor of his service and sacrifice, a Council resolution recognized as a “Citizen Square” the intersection of Boylston and Dartmouth Streets near Copley Square, the central Boston Public Library and the Boston Marathon finish line. He has been a champion and advocate for veterans and military families throughout his life.
Woodhouse, 96, was born Jan. 14, 1927 in Roxbury, grew up in Mission Hill and attended Boston Public Schools. On his 17th birthday, he enlisted into the U.S. Army Air Corps in the segregated unit, following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
He was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Wing at Moton Field, Tuskegee, Alabama, known as the “Tuskegee Airmen,” where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant at 19 and honored for distinguished service.
Despite clear racist challenges he faced during his military service, he was discharged from active duty in 1949 and joined the Air Force Reserves, staying in the capacity until retiring in 1997.
Woodhouse graduated from Yale University in 1952 and Boston University School of Law in 1955 before practicing law at his own firm. He further distinguished himself as a Department of State Diplomatic Courier in Europe and the Middle East. He was on the last flight out of Havana, Cuba in 1959 after Fidel Castro and his insurgent army had taken over the country.
President George W. Bush awarded Woodhouse and other Tuskegee Airmen the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. Then Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker appointed him to the State Militia with the rank of Brigadier General in 2022. At the same time, a mural honoring him was unveiled near the USO office in Terminal C at Logan Airport.
Woodhouse has been a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts that was chartered in 1638.
