The First Stone: A Memoir of the Racial Integration of Levittown, Pennsylvania Paperback – January 1, 2004

A very inspiring book. It contributed to my own determination to help combat racism.

I grew up in Levittown, Pennsylvania decades after the events described in this book. I had heard nothing about these events in all my years there, even though this hit the national news at the time. The book tells of how in 1957, the Myers were the first black family to move to Levittown (the Dogwood Hollow section in the Bristol Township area).I was astounded to hear that Levitt expressly forbid blacks from living in his developments and was steadfast even when approached by the Quakers and the NAACP. I had never heard of the angry crowds which gathered outside the Myers' house or of the KKK there and the cross burning on their neighbors' lawn. Eventually the attorney general had to bring in state police to calm things and make arrests! Throughout the whole time, this was all making national headlines.It was painful but enlightening to read all this. It adds some depth to the quaint caricature of Levittown I was raised on, with the cookie cutter houses and all that. The truth is more complex than just that, but it's worth digging for.