Bill and Daisy Myers were a young black couple with three small children when they moved into Levittown in Pennsylvania. They both were college graduates and were looking for a quiet and peaceful area to raise their children. Little did they know the area they purchased their home was for ‘whites’ only.
On August 13, 1957, Levittown’s mailman, after learning the identity of the Myers, walked the neighborhood shouting “It’s happened (blacks) (mailman used the ‘N” word) have moved into Levittown!”
After hearing the news, groups of housewives gathered across the street from the Myers to torture the young couple by spitting, cursing, and using foul language against them. Before nightfall, over 300 townspeople had formed to throw rocks and smash the windows of the home. However, the torturous act didn’t stop there. The crowds came every night thereafter. The Myers received death threats daily and eight crosses were left burning on their lawn and one on the lawn of their neighbors, who had defended the Myers.
To force the Myers out of their home and town, the Levittown Betterment Committee was formed. Supposedly the group wanted a peaceful departure for the Myer’s but if that didn’t work, other “options” were to consider, the group’s leader ominously warned. The Ku Klux Klan organized a Klavern in town. Although the Police Chief John R. Stewart would have Bill Myers believing he was working for the good of his family, he had the townspeople believing Myers was a communist.
Discovered in bushes near the bedroom of the Myers’ youngest child, who was only two months at the time, were bottles filled with gasoline and topped with cotton wicks. The family fled their home three times within the first two weeks.
Keeping a close eye on what had been happening in Levittown, the governor at the time, George Leader, sent the state police to restore order and to give the Myers protection from the townspeople. The Myers moved in 1961 and received a public apology in 1999 from the Bristol Township.
source:
https://www.ydr.com/story/entertainment/2017/10/27/york-countys-civil-rights-icon-daisy-myers-inspired-plot-line-clooneys-suburbicon/806450001/
5 Comments
“SAD TO SAY THAT ASSHOLE IN THE WHITE HOUSE IS STIRRING THIS SHIT UP TODAY!!!”
What stems this outrage in White people when it comes to Blacks? Could it be some kind of genetic syndrome transferred from generation to generation similar to current behaviors Blacks display based on slavery. It is a clear fact that Whites (not all) have an abnormal reaction of fear and hatred when it comes to Blacks. I rarely see pictures of Whites hanging from trees due to crimes such as “eye balling” or showing disrespect from their point of view. I know there were White’s hanged, but there was no mob of Black people standing around to get their picture taken. It’s an non-diagnosed mental disorder that should be noted in the DSM V.
I concur.
I am a Black woman who resides in Montana. Long story how I ended up here. I have lived in different areas of Montana for the last 14 years now. No one would DARE run me out. As much as I dislike the white race, I along with my Black family live in the midst of nothing but caucasians. I have not been threatened or called out of my name. They way I see it is if you don’t bother me, then I will not bother you. LIVE AND LET LIVE!!!
That’s a beautiful thing and thank God you and your family have a peaceful existence in Montana. Sadly the reality is that the Myers only wanted that same “live and let live” existence but for them it didn’t happen. America today is easing back into that mindset so …. Lest we forget.
Continued peace and blessings to you and your family.