One of the original Levittown houses has been recognized by the Town of Hempstead

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The sign tells the story of the Cape Cod house at 52 Oaktree Lane, the 70th built in Levittown NY in 1947. These photographs were taken by Tom Filiberto, class of 1963.

Early Levittowner Tom Filiberto's roots are connected to a Brooklyn Brownstone

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Tom Filiberto, class of 1963, sent us this classic 1948 family photo. He was three years of age at the time. The Brooklyn brownstone building in which the apartment was located was owned by his grandparents who chose to live in the basement. That's Tom on his grandmother's lap. The rest of the people are all cousins, except his grandfather.

The City of New York eventually took over the brownstone and other properties so that the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge could be built. Connecting Brooklyn and Staten Island, construction of the bridge began August 13, 1959.

Toni Crescenzo Gelfer, class of 1968, commented:

"This picture is so indicative of a time when families all stayed close, unlike today, you grew up in an environment where you saw relatives daily and where grandparents didn't go off on a cruise to get away. They were the pillars which supported the family unit."

1957 Northside School, Mr. R. Clark's sixth grade class

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First row: Irene Kuhn, Jay Barabash, Elaine Castro, Leon Gussow, Lynn Golden, Paul Shiffman

Second row: Charles Drakos, Ron Area, x, Fern Klotz, x, Penny Lines, Mickael Sullivan, Diane Dehne, Tom Filiberto

Standing: the late Bill Dineen, Raymond Yaw, Jerry Gippetti, John Petrontoni, x, Ron Porter, x, Joseph Batewell, Ted Robertson, Len Sandok, George Walling, Mr. Clark
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This is the sixth and final post of Tom Filiberto's collection of Northside elementary school photos from the 1950s, grades one through six. They have been spread out in our blog over the past two months. It has been an interesting glimpse at how kids were dressed in those days, much less casual than recent years. There was a true sense of pride in how children looked when they were sent off to school on the day of the annual class picture.

Levittown was a somewhat transient community in the early years because many houses were rentals and families, for various reasons, would move away. So there was a coming and going of students, which is probably why so many youngsters in Filiberto's photos are unidentified. This is more so in his earlier class shots.

By 1957 when this picture was taken, the Levittown population was much more stable than a few years earlier because there were relatively few houses for rent. Early Levittown youngsters from families that remained often lost close friends who had moved. Some of those relationships remain even some 50 or more years later, but most were lost forever.

Several of these youngsters in today's photo graduated from Division Avenue High School in Levittown along with Tom in 1963. Some of the other 1963 grads attended Summit Lane School for sixth grade.

1952 Northside School: Mrs. Hans' first grade class

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First row: x, Michelle Fromm

Second row: Charles Drakos, x, Linda Bishop, x

Third row: x, x, x, x

Fourth row: Tom Filiberto, Steve McNally, x, x

Fifth row: Michael Sullivan: x, Barbara Bordini, x

Standing: Jerry Gippetti, x, Ron Area, Dennis Ditto, Joe Imparato, Dick Marcella

Tom Filiberto from the class of 1963 has provided our blog with his first through sixth grade class photos from Northside School. Also, he has posted them on Facebook. As you can see, many of the students are not identified. Filiberto consulted with some classmates from back then and although a few names were added, many blanks remain. We are uncertain if the teacher in this photo is Mrs. Hans or Mrs. Hands.

Levittown was a somewhat transient community because many houses were rentals and families, for various reasons, would move away. So there was a coming and going of students, which is probably why so many youngsters in this photo are unidentified. The same will be true of other class photos from Filiberto's collection.

Any help with names would be appreciated.