Jeffrey Conger, 4-2, Levittown

http://hist380.ferrellhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Project-4-2.pdf

2 thoughts on “Jeffrey Conger, 4-2, Levittown”

  1. ssanfor3 says:

    Hello Jeffery! I enjoyed reading your analysis and summary of the two documentaries. Did the documentary on the Myers address what percentage of the white neighbors were violent vs. welcoming? I would like to see if there was any data on these percentages from the time. Since the documentaries have obviously been made long after the event it is logical to assume some neighbors memories are false. Especially since the racial climate in the United States has changed so much since the 1950s, I wonder how many of the neighbors who thought they were friendly actually had been perceived by the Myers as hostile. Also the juxtaposition of the Myers documentary with the Levittown 1947 that only featured white families provided an interesting contrast. I would suppose the ads of only white families portrayed the environment that the hostile neighbors were expecting to live in. Overall, a thorough summary of the two documentaries. My only constructive criticism is the project was a little more focused on the Myers documentary, and not balanced with the Levittown 1947 documentary. (I pledge 177)

  2. rpratt says:

    Hello Jeffrey. In response to the violent vs welcoming percentage, the film did not give this statistic. It gave different perspectives of the community members. We got to hear peoples rational on why they felt the way they did. Jeffrey is correct that they never said they were prejudice to African Americans. There hatred was clear in their response and there fears were easy to spot. They feared economic loss, loss of status, there was a fear of violence and finally a fear of interracial marriage. While you had a great analysis of the interviews, how did these interviews clarify the social and racial problems in the United States? The films were very interesting and it was incredible to see interviews of people during the time. I felt I got a very good gauge on the feelings of AMericans of this time. Great work and I look forward to what you right next.
    “I pledge…”
    (Word Count 153)

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