Jan. 25, 2019

Sam Snipes, of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, died recently at the age of 99. Sam was known as a peacemaker, a lawyer, and a historian. Sam Snipes was the attorney for William and Daisy Myers, the first black family to move into Levittown, PA. The more I read about Sam Snipes, the more I thought, “He must be a Quaker.” I was right.

 

A graduate of Westtown School and Haverford College, Sam followed his Quaker leadings. Shortly after WWII, Sam, a conscientious objector, worked for the United Nations to help relocate refugees from ghettoes and concentration camps. He later graduated from Temple University Law School and set up a small practice in Bucks County, specializing in estate planning and civil law.

 

In 1957, he was called to defend the Myers family in their effort to purchase a home in all-white Levittown. Unruly mobs threw bricks through windows, and the KKK burned crosses on the lawns of anyone who sympathized with the Myers. During one difficult evening, Sam Snipes personally held off an angry mob for 45 minutes until the sheriff arrived. The Myers persisted, the harassment subsided, and they lived in the home until William’s job as an electrical engineer relocated them four years later.

 

Sam’s interest in peace, justice, and community took him to the Soviet Union, South Africa, and post-Hiroshima, Japan, to talk with officials. He was known as a local historian and the lawyer who prevented a power company from building a nuclear power plant near Pennsbury Manor, home of William Penn. Known for his quiet strength, Sam Snipes truly let his life speak.

 

In Peace,

Larry