65 Years Ago, Levittown Cemented Place In Civil Rights History
Martin Luther King Jr. Day honors the famed American, celebrates volunteerism, and serves as a reminder of the progress made by the Civil Rights movement.
While there’s still plenty of work still to be done, one of the Civil Rights movement’s early fights took place in Levittown.
Although many of the memorable stands against racism of the era were in the south, the new development of Levittown in the Mid-Atlantic region came into the national spotlight when the Black Myers family moved into all-white Levittown in the summer of 1957.
The 1957 documentary “Crisis In Levittown, PA” showcases the unrest and fight over segregation in the community.
The Myers family home on Deepgreen Lane at Daffodil Lane in Bristol Township was the site of cross burnings, vandalism, protests, and riots for several days. Pennsylvania State Police had to be called to assist township officers.
Despite the anti-Black sentiment in their neighborhood and the formation of the racist Levittown Betterment Committee at the time, there was support for the Myers in the community and they did stay. Other Black families then moved into Levittown.
In 1961, the family moved to Harrisburg.
Bristol Township offered the family a public apology, which Daisy Myers accepted, in 1999. The Myers family and others have issued accounts on the racism over the decades.
Below is the 1957 documentary:
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