Reverend Willie R. James, Sr. (September 13, 1920 – August 2, 2016) served as an important early civil rights activist in New Jersey starting in late 1950s and helped to end housing discrimination in that state.
James later became head of the Burlington County Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and remained active in social issues including fighting poverty, job discrimination and ending the death penalty.
In his lawsuit against Levitt and Sons, James stated that on June 29, 1958 an agent of that company told him that the new Levittown development would be an all-white community.
His suit was tied with another man named Franklin Todd, who was suing Green Fields Farms for housing discrimination against African-Americans as well.
[2] James also received help from the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, local Quaker groups and other organizations.
Charles and Vera Williams were the first African-American family to move in 1960 due to the outcome of James' suit against Levitt.
[6] James later recalled that he moved into his new home on a weekday and that it went smoothly with white neighbors helping him set up curtains.
In order to make a smoother transition, it included the announcement of Levitt's decision to desegregate housing to be made by community leaders.
These agents were accused of intimidating white homeowners with claims that their neighborhood was becoming increasingly African-American and home values could decline.
[8] James would clash with Levitt again in 1963 when he and the Congress of Racial Equality staged a demonstration against the developer for refusing to sell homes to African-Americans in Prince George's County, Maryland.
[8] James' wife Bernice organized a sit-in with the NAACP in 1966 to desegregate a local recreation area known as Holiday Lake.
Pipe Company in Burlington, New Jersey for maintaining separate shower facilities for African-Americans and failing to hire and promote Blacks.