Some obituaries make me regret that I haven’t done more with my life. Yesterday I read one for Samuel Snipes, a lawyer who represented the first black family to move into the all-white development of Levittown, Pennsylvania. The builder of Levittown had refused to sell to blacks. He said it was a business decision.
Attorney Snipes handled the closing on the home purchase. When the family arrived in 1957 there were weeks of harassment and even cross burnings. Screaming spitting protesters gathered outside the home. The unrest lasted for weeks.
In one incident Mr. Snipes stood outside of the house and by himself faced down a mob of hundreds until the police arrived.
Mr. Snipes previously had worked for the UN after WWII helping to relocate refugees. Later as a solicitor for Falls Township, he stopped the development of nuclear power plant on an island on the Delaware River across from William Penn’s home.
What an amazing life.
You can read the full obit in “Samuel Snipes, 99 Lawyer For White Town’s First Blacks,” New York Times, (11 Jan. 2019), p. B-1.
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