1940's Lifestyles and Social Trends | Levittown, New York

Photographs

By: William J. Levitt

Date: April 13, 1949; May 14, 1954

Source: Green, Arthur. "Levittown, New York Seen from Above." April 13, 1949. Corbis. Image no. U901794ACME; Bettmann/Corbis. "Houses In Levittown, Long Island." May 14, 1954. Corbis. Image no. BE041725. Available online at http://pro.corbis.com (accessed March 27, 2003).

About the Architect: William J. Levitt (1907–1994) attended New York University for three years before joining his father's construction company. He eventually came to manage the organization, finances, advertising, sales, and land transactions of the company. Levitt's first housing development was begun during the early years of the Great Depression. His initial attempts to enter the field of low-cost housing were unsuccessful, but by 1947 his first mass-produced housing development, Levittown, opened...