Levitt is called the father of the modern American suburb for building Levittown on Long Island, where mass-produced houses made homeownership affordable for returning World War II veterans.

He refused to sell his homes to Black buyers, and his contracts barred owners from reselling to them.

• Known as "racially restrictive convenants," the contractual terms barring interracial sales were rendered unenforceable by the U.S. Supreme Court in Shelley v. Kraemer (1948).