Levittown
Two Families, One Tycoon, and the Fight for Civil Rights in America's Legendary Suburb
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Levittown
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Narrated by:
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Tavia Gilbert
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Written by:
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David Kushner
About this listen
The dark side of the American dream: the true story of the first African-American family to move into the iconic suburb, Levittown, Pennsylvania.
In the decade after World War II, one entrepreneurial family helped thousands of people buy into the American dream of owning a home: The Levitts. William, Alfred, and their father, Abe, pooled their talents to create storybook towns with affordable little houses. They laid out the welcome mat - but not to everyone. Levittown had a Whites-only policy.
The events that unfolded in Levittown, Pennsylvania, in the unseasonably hot summer of 1957 would rock the community. There, a White Jewish Communist family named Wechsler secretly arranged for a Black family, the Myerses, to buy the pink house next door.
The explosive reaction would transform their lives, and the nation, leading to the downfall of a titan and the integration of the most famous suburb in the world. Levittown is a story of hope and fear, invention and rebellion, and the power that comes when ordinary people take an extraordinary stand. And it is as relevant today, more than 50 years later, as it was then.
©2009 David Kushner (P)2010 Audible, Inc.What the critics say
"In Levittown, a vigorous and often surprising narrative, David Kushner journeys into the racially charged heart of what newspapers once trumpeted as 'the most perfectly planned community in America.' The core of Mr. Kushner's story focuses on the campaign to desegregate Levittown, Pa., in 1957. He deftly spliced together the experiences of two families at the center of what became a terrifying ordeal." (Wall Street Journal)