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James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

Copiague

New York

Basic Information

Type of Place
CDP, Unincorporated Borough, or MCD
Metro Area
Long Island
Politics c. 1860?
Don’t Know
Unions, Organized Labor?
Don’t Know

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Possible
Was there an ordinance?
Don't Know
Sign?
Don’t Know
Year of Greatest Interest
1953
Still Sundown?
Don’t Know

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Threat of Violence
  • Private Bad Behavior

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black
  • Jewish

Comments

From Martha Biondi, To Stand and Fight (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 2003):
“In 1953, the home being built by Clarence
Wilson … in Copaigue, LI, was twice set on fire. ‘The
Ku Klux Klan No. 39’ sent him and the Amityville
NAACP threatening letters warning blacks to stay out
of the area.” One neighbor “reportedly boasted that
‘they had spent a lot of money to keep Jews out and
they weren’t going to let Negroes move in.'” A CORE
survey found 15 neighbors opposed to the Wilson, 11
not opposed, and 5 who refused to talk. He had to
sell at a loss because he could not get fire insurance.”
(p. 237)