Willie James

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.

Willie James was born in Vidalia, Louisiana in 1920.

He attended Southern University in Baton Rouge and was drafted in the army in 1941.

He served as an officer in the Criminal Investigation Unit.

He was transferred to Fort Dix in 1946.

While living in New Jersey, he met his future wife Bernice.

James's foray into the Civil Rights Movement happened by coincidence starting in the late 1950s.

Segregation in housing was taken for granted in the late 1950s throughout America.

Racial disturbance broke out in Levittown, Pennsylvania when a white family resold their home to African-Americans.

However, James was informed by a friend employed at the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights that it was illegal in New Jersey to discriminate in federally subsidized housing.

Levittown was receiving mortgage insurance from the Federal Housing Administration.

In 1958, Levitt and Sons started selling homes for their new Levittown project in South Jersey (in what would later become Willingboro Township).

When homes for the new Levittown were first being sold, Levitt and Sons had a policy to not sell homes to African-Americans.

James however attempted to apply for a Levittown home.

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.

But as of 1958, the law had not been tested.

James sued Levitt and Sons.

His suit was tied with another man named Franklin Todd, who was suing Green Fields Farms for housing discrimination against African-Americans as well.

James also received help from the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, local Quaker groups and other organizations.

James was represented by civil rights attorney, Emerson L. Darnell, who was himself a Quaker.

The case received large media attention, because the new Levittown was a model for modern suburbia.

The case went as far as the New Jersey Supreme Court which upheld lower court rulings in favor of James.

Levitt attempted to have the case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, but his request was denied.

One of the stipulations in the 1960 settlement was that James' home had to be sold to him at the 1958 price.

James was not the first African-American to move into Willingboro however.

Charles and Vera Williams were the first African-American family to move in 1960 due to the outcome of James' suit against Levitt.

James eventually moved into Millbrook Park in 1960 and raised four children there.

He would eventually have four sons and three daughters.

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.

Following the court case, Levitt prepared an extensive integration policy.

Levitt set up an integration committee headed by Howard Lett, an African American.

Lett created a five-point program.

In order to make a smoother transition, it included the announcement of Levitt's decision to desegregate housing to be made by community leaders.

Lett also recommended an attempt to discourage anti-integration activities known as "Operation Hothead".

Another of Lett's ideas was to create a Human Relations Council to oversee possible disputes in the community.

James would later serve as a member of that committee.

One incident the Council investigated were charges of blockbusting made against several local real estate agents.

These agents were accused of intimidating white homeowners with claims that their neighborhood was becoming increasingly African-American and home values could decline.

While the Council could not prove these claims, it did outline recommendations to help foster better relations between the diverse populations.