York’s and Levittown’s Daisy Myers: Rosa Parks of the North
Rosa Parks’ death is a reminder of the accomplishments of York County resident Daisy Myers.
She’s sometimes referred locally as “Rosa Parks of the North” for her and her family’s perseverance in the face of racial violence in Levittown, Bucks County, in the late 1950s.
“It seems to me that change comes, in the main, because of our heroes: Martin Luther King, Ralph Bunche, the Reverend Ralph Abernathy, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, and many others whose names are not widely known,” former Pennsylvania Gov. George M. Leader wrote in the foreword of Myers’ autobiography.
“I think the time has come to add to that list of heroes the names of Bill and Daisy Myers.”
When George Leader was governor, the York County native ordered state police to Levittown to fight racial unrest and allay pressure on the Myers family.
The York County Heritage Trust published Daisy Myers’ autobiography “Sticks ‘n Stones‿ earlier this year. To order: www.yorkheritage.org.
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