Though the Levitts made it an unofficial policy not to sell homes to minorities, they could not legally prevent an existing homeowner from reselling their home to black buyers. Unless of course, your credit was trashed, or you had a long list of arrests and convictions, or some other reason they could find on paper. How was segregation still such a real, persevering and violent part of communities long after residential segregation laws had been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1917? There is nothing wrong with me pointing out racism no matter the era or Government.

The song has been covered by countless other folk singers since, including Pete Seeger: The suburbs have clearly come to symbolize more than just collections of white picket-fenced houses outside a city. You said: I think if you look back at the history of that time, and even before, back to the Twenties, you will find that Levitt basically had his financial hands tied behind his back in reference to the policy of Whites only buyers for not just Levittown, but for all of their previous building, whether it was contracted or built on spec. NO lender, no bank, no savings and loan, no building and loan, not EVEN the Federal Government programs like the FHA or the GI Bill lenders, would write loans for housing for black borrowers. So much of the American story has involved, literally and ideologically, turning away from the crowded industry of the city to the romantic beauty of the frontier. The story of Levittown captures both the hopeful and darker sides of the rise of the American suburbs. Yes, it was written into the contracts, in very clear, non- mistakable black and white, in every housing development of the day. Thurgood Marshall, the lawyer who had successfully argued Brown v. Board of Education, represented the plaintiffs, but a Philadelphia court dismissed the suit after ruling that the federal agencies were not responsible for preventing housing discrimination. Also, someone else perhaps you as well (I dont recall ;you post A LOT) said parents never mentioned that part of the contract. This was an extremely important feature to homeowners all the way back to the early twenties who had been living in homes prior to that with wooden shingle roofs and open flame heat sources, where a few good sparks from the chimney picked up by the wind could land them on any nearby roof, including the home it came from of course, and begin a raging house fire. I enjoyed meeting new friends and how the neighbors worked together as neighbors. The FHA only offered mortgages to non-mixed developments which discouraged developers from creating racially integrated housing. My love for this community allows me to organize , LevittownInternationallyKnownCommunitiesInc.net is the website. Yes, I understand Welsh is quite a challenging language to learn, since it really doesnt follow any of the pronunciation rules of English. Should say That the wording highly restricted was placed in the advertising of every whites-only community or development -as far back as the 1920s- as a way of expressing that whites only requirement . It was a not-so-closeted reassurance to the well-to-do potential white buyers that there would not be anyone who could potentially be identified as others in their community, besides domestic staff, of course. What are you 12? Again, why would they? Thanks for expanding on the discrimination question. ), Homeowners were deluged with advertisements from local hardware, home improvement, and even appliance dealers, who were either pedaling THEIR best grade, best buy on umbrella type clotheslines, or even automatic clothes dryers! Even years later, I never heard either of my parents mention the policy of segregation in the community. Anyway, there was no insult, assumption (other than that which I have already described, and based on previous experience) or unqualified anger implied, or directed at anyone in particular. Asbestos roofs! Indeed, the very charters of Levittown and suburbs across America were closely intertwined with the preservation of the capitalist American way in the face of growing Soviet international influence. The rating system eventually contributed to reinforcing segregation as real estate agents and landlords steered white buyers to white communities and African Americans to poorer developments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levittown,_New_York, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levittown,_New_York, Japanese-American UC Berkeley Students And Higher Education after the Camps, Racialized Borders within the United States, The Battle Hymn of the Republic Marches On. The Federal Housing Administration allowed developers to justify segregation within public housing. The classic sociology text The Levittowners (Herbert Gans) demonstrated the benefits to family stability and mental health when moving from Philadelphia slums to Levittown Pa or Willingboro (nee Levittown) New Jersey. 2But the delineation between urban and nonurban has particular significance in U.S. history. The old fashioned wooden wardrobes and chifrobes? But underneath the uniform houses lining the curved, meticulously gardened roads of Levittown lies a much more turbulent story. Before the sale of Levittown homes began, the sales agents were aware that no applications from black families would be accepted. 1. Nowhere did I say YOU definitely saidand it was well within context. The Levitts level of control over the appearance of Levittown did not stop at the yards and houses but extended to the appearance of the inhabitants themselves. Especially not in areas that were predominantly white, and where more white people would be living. It was called Buying on time with a dollar down, a dollar a week for a million weeks (or so it seemed sometimes.). Then maybe you wouldnt have to ask so many questions about subjects which have already been covered. Even at the time, the iconic community represented for many all that was hopeful and wholesome for the estimated twenty million Americans who followed Levittowns lead and made the trek to suburbia in the 1950s. Even the maintenance of houses and yards were meticulously governed; buyers agreed to a laundry list of rules that, for example, prohibited residents from hanging laundry to dry outside their homes.

But the plain fact is that most whites prefer not to live in mixed communities. All for $5,000. As Franklin Delano Roosevelt said later in the century, A nation of homeowners, of people who own a real share in their land, is unconquerable., How and why did suburbia become such an iconic and beloved part of American life? Crystal N. Galyean is a writer, editor, and historian who lives in New Jersey, where she makes sweet sweet bluegrass music with her band the Great Grassby. They fought for integration, when the law was behind them. The Pete Seeger song was not directed at this builder, but at copycats who did build ticky-tacky with fake colonial aspirations. So, his exposure levels were lower by far than my uncles. The Levitts would go on to create two other communities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and the legacy of the first Levittown has become a legend in the history of the American suburbs. and it persisted even into the 1970s. (.)/. And boy, they checked you OUT too! Its less of an issue today, because most owners have expanded over the years. Others attacked suburban communities not just for their segregationism, but for a uniformity of spirit some saw as worth struggling against. And the Levitts took more than the homes themselves into considerationthey designed community streets along curvilinear patterns to create a graceful, un-urban grid like feel, and directed cars going through the development to the outside of the community so Levittown would not be disturbed by noisy traffic. Sewage and water plants were financed or built as required. Especially not in areas that were predominantly white, and where more white people would be living. The mass production system of factory manufactured panellized construction was invented by Levitt, and is now the standard nationwide.

As their income grew, so did the additions to the house! This response alone was interesting, thank you. Social progress in the US has always been a bitter struggle, one that is still ongoing, 160 years after the Civil War. Im really interested. Since there was discrimination there would be no need to put in a contract not to sell to blacks or non whites, since they couldnt get loans anyway. I still have photos taken on our front lawn of the first four of us kids in our family. its too bad that not all veterans were included. That the wording highly restricted was placed in the advertising of EVERY whites only community or development as a way of expressing that whites only requirement for buying property or housing no matter how deep anybodys pockets happened to be. But! Sadly, the experiences of the Myers in Levittown were not unique but were echoed in houses, apartments, and streets across the nation. While racially homogenous and primarily white neighborhoods generally received higher grades, the agency deemed those neighborhoods housing minorities or, an undesirable element, in the official language, with its lowest ratings. Minimal need for school busses; the planning allowed all kids to safely walk to school. In accordance with this policy, the buying agreement signed by all those who purchased homes in Levittown stated that the property could not be used or rented by any individuals other than those of the Caucasian race. The banks and other lenders required it. But, it got you that brand new clothes dryer, and eliminated the need to do the laundry based on the rain forecasts, or to hang the wash upstairs inside the unfinished attic in the middle of frigid New England winters. My family moved into our Levittown home in 1952. After the financial success of the Levittown in Long Island, Levitt and Sons went on to build two more Levittowns, one in Pennsylvania and one in New Jersey.

By including closets now do you mean closets to hang your clothing in? 9. By 1950, 80% percent of Levittowns male residents commuted to jobs in Manhattan. McCarthy posed with washing machines to be placed in Levittown homes and praised Levittown as a model of the American way. And as long as its left alone, and not broken apart but just covered, its completely safe. The houses were simple, unpretentious, and most importantly to its inhabitants, affordable to both the white and blue-collar worker. I remember when a black family wanted to move in , someone went around with a petition and my dad would not sign it. If you truly were all knowing all seeing you wouldnt be here, youd be on another level of existence. As for the Bendix washers, I always thought they were something of a unique brand, as their later higher grade models combined the functions of washer and dryer into one machine! Why would they? Yes, that asbestos. The Levittowns are a reflection of the larger communities, and the financing policies, where they are located. 12 Bill Levitt himself once said, No man who owns his own home and lot can be a Communist, he has too much to do. 13 Later, Levitt vilified those who questioned his segregationist policies as communists. It had to be that umbrella type that stuck into a pipe permanently installed to just under ground level, and folded out like an umbrella, and then the most important point would be folded up, removed and stored away out of sight until the next time you did the wash. (As long as it wasnt on a Sunday! The legacy of the policy lingers as even today Levittown has a very small percentage non-white, which is perhpas surprising considering that the houses are still among the most affordable in the county. Let it be. our dryer was in my bedroom, the front one which were the smaller of the two.. washers were next to heaters.. As historian Jackson has written, For perhaps the first time, the federal government embraced the discriminatory attitudes of the marketplace. Thanks for that education. If I or anyone else wants to post 1 or 5 word messages, thats ok. Not all posts have to be fluffed up with too many words. Maybe Ill look into that situation one of these days! . AHhhh..life in the suburbs! So black people helped build communities they were forbade to live inand? During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt had launched a federal agency called the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC), meant to protect struggling homeowners from losing their homes. Research would have uncovered the reality of the Levittown in Bowie, Md, which is a healthy racial mix, reflecting the employment policies of the federal government and military, where its residents work. Each community had a hierarchy of streets, so that the arterial highways separating each neighborhood had no driveways, preserving the carrying capacity of the town owned infrastructure. 4 Just like Thomas Jefferson had dreamed of farmers with their own land to sow as an essential ingredient of Americas future, homeownership became not only a mark of success but was perceived as an attribute to both the character of the individual and of the nation. Keep up with history and join our newsletter. I was an architect and planner with the firm in the early 60s and know whereof I speak: 1. 2022 U.S. History Scene, all rights reserved. It was much more of a proactive statement to those who have commonly come along behind me, quoting chapter and verse regarding those circumstances, automatically assuming I am an unqualified Rah! Ive not witnessed any implied anger anywhere. His hands were not tied. They seemed to be the perfect solution, and have always wondered why they didnt do better in the marketplace than they did. They only lived there for about three years, but babies #3 and #4 were born there. But the legacy of the suburbs that Levittown embodied was not simple, as shown by the struggle of the Myers. Ive lost one uncle, about 10 years ago, from asbestosis, who worked in the fabric mills in the mid-50s, before becoming a welder in the shipbuilding industry for decades, and my stepfather is dealing with asbestosis now, at the age of 90, but he was a white collar piping designer on submarines. In 1957, William and Daisy Myers, a black couple with young children, bought a house in Levittown, Pennsylvania from the former owners. 14, The construction and growth of Levittown was a godsend for many houseless families, but it was also a battleground for divisive conceptions of race and political differences in the United States. Asbestos was the Wonder Material of the age, as it was used to create numerous fireproof and insulating materials for building many types of structures. Good Lord, who doesnt know them by now? Journalist David Kushner, the author of a book about the Myers experience, wrote of that less told story of Levittowns history, It epitomizes how systematically people can be shut out of a dreamand yet how heroically they can take it back. 15. Ahhh then you have done absolutely NO research on the racial profiling of the times, or a concept called red lining or the reason that areas of predominantly black residence are and always have been self propagating in the matter of low quality, high cost housing, and business presence. Why do you have a problem with questions? You work so hard to prove my point. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window). They couldnt even buy their way out with large sums of cash, say from an insurance settlement paid out when the head of the household died, because there were no nice areas of homes to buy in that werent strictly segregated. Bill Levitt only sold houses to white buyers, excluding African Americans from buying houses in his communities even after. Ive observed outward anger in your posts. Or, something else with which Im not familiar? I have no insight into how much the Levitts lacked freedom to choose their discrimination policies.

Obviously, a petition to STOP them from moving in. There were both White American carpenters andAfrican American carpenters working together. William Levitt attempted to justify their decision to only sell homes to white families by saying that it was in the best interest for business. Historian Kenneth Jackson has written that the post-world War II single-family tract house, whatever its aesthetic failings, offered growing families a private haven in a heartless world. 5. 2. That is, minus the last sentence. Construction workers were trained to do one step at each house (which were spaced 60 feet apart) instead of building each house up from scratch individually. An aunt and uncle stayed in their 1948 VA financed Levittown home until moving to Assisted Living at age 90. No, you never said that, but I was not addressing you specifically in the last bit, but also anyone and everyone else who could read my answer. This included framing innovations that anticipated the hurricane code standards required decades later. They would not make loans to people of color in that time, and made that extremely clear, so that IT would be extremely clear in any court in the land. A combination of unusually high birth rates (which bred the baby boomer generation) and plummeting construction left many families struggling to find any suitable shelters, sometimes living in boxcars, chicken coops, and large iceboxes. Its so important to put a halt to such social inequalities, and it always starts with one person. Quaker-built Pennsylvanian suburb Concord Park, for example, was built under the motto Democracy in Housing, and embraced diverse residents. I have yet to find that capability in any smartphone platform I have examined to date! (Watch A Raisin in the Sun sometime, if you havent yet.) You did not specify. I specifically said: Also, someone else perhaps you as well (I dont recall ;you post A LOT) said parents never mentioned that part of the contract. Each community was built with neighborhood schools, parks and community shopping center, sidewalks, all built by Levitt. He claimed their actions were not discriminatory but intended to maintain the value of their properties. It wasnt only segregationists used the charge of Communism to their advantage. Thomas Jefferson, for example, dreamed of the U.S. as a nation of small yeoman farmers, and once wrote that he viewed large cities as pestilential to the morals, the health, and the liberties of man. 3, Despite Jeffersons vision, cities in the U.S. formed and flourished. Construction of Levittown was famously quick: a home was built every 16 minutes. The Levitts homes were affordable, planted in a picture-perfect, carefully controlled community, and were equipped with futuristic stoves and television sets. Rah! Cheerleader for asbestos without being aware of its dangers. Levittown itself arguably embodied the best and worst of the postwar American story; it was a result of the entrepreneurship and ingenuity that has come to define the American spirit, but it also participated in the violent prejudice that has also been part of American history. The later Levittowns provided for economic diversity also; but bank lending practices dictated separate streets and neighborhoods for the larger more costly homes. I think themajor reason I didnt move there years ago was that I couldnt pronounce the names of streets, cities and towns. What else could it be, given the subject matter that has already been covered? When my parents bought in 1948, they bought directly from the Levitt company and they were told quite clearly of that of the white-only policy. Yes! Previously, prejudices were personalized and individualized; FHA exhorted segregation and enshrined it as public policy. 17. Although 1950s suburbia conjures visions of traditional family life, idyllic domesticity, and stability, the story of the suburbanization of America is also one of exclusion, segregation, and persecution. In fact, it was only on Sundays, because they felt it wasnt tidy looking on what was supposed to be a Family Day or a day of rest, for people who wanted to enjoy their backyards with their families to be forced to look at your laundry flapping in the breeze! The Myers family faced endless harassment as well as implicit and explicit threats of violence from other residents in the community, with little help from the local police to keep the mobs of angry racists from congregating outside their home day and night. I never said you Shari do not know about the risks of asbestos. What I mean is color, and underlining! Starting in the early nineteenth century, the advent of new forms of transportation (such as trains and steamboats) made commuting to urban centers more convenient. Things like body language, eye expression, facial expressions in general, tone of voice, inflection, and so forth. More houses were lost that way than most any other in those times. I think if you look back at the history of that time, and even before, back to the Twenties, you will find that Levitt basically had his financial hands tied behind his back in reference to the policy of Whites only buyers for not just Levittown, but for all of their previous building, whether it was contracted or built on spec. NO lender, no bank, no savings and loan, no building and loan, not EVEN the Federal Government programs like the FHA or the GI Bill lenders, would write loans for housing for black borrowers. If her house wasnt fully paid for, I think she would prefer to go elsewhere. Hands tied? My parents bought a house in Levittown, NY in 1953 after my Dad returned from the Korean War. You are making excuses for a racist. The system also enforced the perception that the entry of racial minorities into a community resulted in a drop in property values. They believed that potential white buyers would not want to buy a house in Levittown if they were aware that they would have black neighbors. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levittown,_New_York, Just as a side note the admonition about not hanging your wash outside in your backyard was not a seven day a week proposition. But alas here you are, breathe. Abraham, a horticultural enthusiast, was heavily involved in the landscaping and gardening of the community. It wasnt, I didnt, so apparently it was someone else to whom you are referring. Asbestos was absolutely fireproof, didnt rot, didnt decay, and lasted longer than any other material except slate, of course. The specter of communism was also heavily implicated in the Myers struggle, as members of both sides of the conflict hurled charges of socialism at their opponents. As the article notes and other histories confirm, housing discrimination was widespread and practiced by all the those involved in real estate (government agencies, lenders, realtors, homeowners, etc.)