David P. Levy COLLECTION

 

 

(Mss 265)

 

 

Inventory

 

 

Earl K. Long Library

University of New Orleans

 

October 2010

 

 

Contents

 

 

Summary

 

Biographical Note

 

List of Series

 

Series Descriptions

 

Container List

 

Index Terms

 

Procedures for Requesting Special Collections Materials

 

 

 

Summary

 

 

Size:                           1.5 linear feet

 

Geographic

locations:                 New Orleans, La.

 

Inclusive dates:      1947-1985

 

Bulk Dates:              1970-1985

 

Summary:                 Records, gathered by Levy while working to effect changes in the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project spon­sored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Orleans Parish Levee Board, and the Louisiana Office of Public Works.  Includes announcements, clippings, correspondence, bank statements, environmental statements, memoranda, news releases, pamphlets, periodicals, and studies.

 

Source:                     Gift, March 1995

 

Access:                     No restrictions

.

Copyright:                Physical rights are retained by the Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans.

 

Citation:                    David P. Levy Collection (Mss 265), Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans.

 

 

 

Biographical Note

 

David Pokorny Levy was born on June 7, 1923 in the city New Orleans.  He attended Edith Aiken’s School, La Salle Elementary, Audubon, and Fortier High School before enrolling at Tulane University in 1940.  Hale Boggs appointed Levy to the United States Naval Academy as a Midshipman 4th class, but because of the ongoing war Levy’s program was shortened to three years instead of four.  In 1941 he was assigned the USS Meade as a Seaman 2nd class, and he graduated from the academy on his 21st birthday, after which he was assigned to the U.S.S. Miami.  During the course of his active duty, Levy received two purple hearts. 

 

After the end of the war Levy return to New Orleans and began working for Equitable Equipment as a designer before founding Balehi Marine in Lacombe, serving as both CEO and Chairman of the Board.  In 2003 he moved to Jefferson, Louisiana, where he resided until his death on September 29, 2010 at the age of 87.

 

Levy was an outspoken critic of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project, primarily opposed to the “barrient plan” aspect of the proposal, which consisted of  locks, dams, and barriers intended to control the in­ward flow of water.  Levy and other opponents to the project feared that damming Lake Pontchartrain would negatively impact the pleasure sailing, fishing, and shipbuilding industries, ruin the ecology of the lake, fail to offer any significant increase in protection if a “critical path” storm struck the city, and possibly even cause increased levels of flooding in surrounding areas such as St. Bernard Parish and New Orleans East.

 

Source: David P. Levy obituary, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 3 October 2010.

 

 

 

List of Series

 

 

Series I:         Clippings, n.d. and 1961-1984

Series II:        Correspondence and miscellany, n.d. and 1947-1985

Series III:       Interview Materials

                                                                             

 

 

Series Descriptions

 

 

I.          Clippings, n.d. and 1961-1984

Newspaper clippings and other research material related to the Corps of

Engineers Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project.  Includes original newspaper articles as well as photocopies.

 

II.         Correspondence and miscellany, n.d. and 1947-1985

Primarily correspondence between Levy and others.  Includes memos, notes, and letters of fellow opponents to the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project, representatives of the Corps of Engineers, and numerous Louisiana politicians such as John Rarick, Edward C. Scogin, members of the Long family, and governors Dave Treen and Edwin Edwards.  Includes originals, photocopies, and releated materials such as press releases, reports, studies, and a small number of articles and photographs.

 

III.        Interview Materials

One photograph of David P. Levy, circa 1996, and an audiocassette copy of an interview between Levy and Beatrice R. Owsley from May 14, 1996.

 

 

 

Container List

 

 

Series I: Clippings, n.d. and 1961-1984

Newspaper clippings and other research material related to the Corps of

Engineers Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project.  Includes original newspaper articles as well as photocopies.

 

Box 1:

 

265-1              n.d.

265-2              n.d.

265-3              1961, 1962, 1971

265-4              Jan. 2 – Jul. 23, 1972

265-5              Aug. 12 – Oct. 11, 1972

265-6              Oct. 14 – Dec. 31, 1972

265-7              Jan. 4 – Jun. 30, 1973

265-8              Jul. 5 – Nov. 16, 1973

265-9              Jan. 1 – Jul. 28, 1974

265-10            Aug. 22 – Dec. 18, 1974

265-11            Jan. 5 – May 28, 1975

265-12            Jul. 6 – Dec. 24, 1975

265-13            Feb. 8 – Jun. 28, 1976

265-14            Jul. 18 – Dec. 25, 1976

265-15            Jan. 2 – Jun. 21, 1977

265-16            Jun. 22 – Nov. 1, 1977

265-17            Nov. 2 – Dec. 31, 1977

265-18            Jan. 2 – May 26, 1978

265-19            Jun. 1 – Dec. 1978

265-20            Jan. 23 – Dec. 7, 1979

265-21            Jan. 20 – Nov. 2, 1980

265-22            Feb. 12 – Dec. 12, 1981

265-23            Jan. 31 – Apr. 12, 1984

 

Series II: Correspondence and miscellany, n.d. and 1947-1985

Primarily correspondence between Levy and others.  Includes memos, notes, and letters of fellow opponents to the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project, representatives of the Corps of Engineers, and numerous Louisiana politicians such as John Rarick, Edward C. Scogin, members of the Long family, and governors Dave Treen and Edwin Edwards.  Includes originals, photocopies, and releated materials such as press releases, reports, studies, and a small number of articles and photographs.

 

Box 2:

 

265-24            n.d.

265-25            n.d.

265-26            1947, 1956, 1965, 1970

265-27            Mar. – Aug. 10, 1971

265-28            Aug. 11 – Dec. 28, 1971

265-29            Jan. – Jan. 23, 1972

265-30            Feb. 4 – Mar. 24, 1972

265-31            Mar. 31 – Apr. 11, 1972

265-32            Apr. 26 – Jun. 9, 1972

265-33            Jun. 22 – Aug. 5, 1972

265-34            Aug. 14 – Sep. 15, 1972

265-35            Sep. 18 – Nov. 2, 1972

265-36            Nov. 10 – Dec. 28, 1972

265-37            Jan. 9 – Aug. 2, 1973

265-38            Aug. 3 – Dec. 17, 1973

265-39            Jan. 1974

265-40            Jan. 3 – Feb. 12, 1974

265-41            Feb. 15 – Jun. 19, 1974

 

Box 3:

 

265-42            Aug. 1974

265-43            Aug. 5, Dec. 31, 1974

265-44            Jan. 5 – Mar. 3, 1975

265-45            Mar. 4 – May 12, 1975

265-46            May 16 – Aug. 20, 1975

265-47            Aug. 22 – Nov. 5, 1975

265-48            Nov. 14 – Dec. 29, 1975

265-49            Jan. 9 – Feb. 10, 1976

265-50            Feb. 12 – Mar. 31, 1976

265-51            Apr. 1 – Apr. 23, 1976

265-52            Apr. 26, May 25, 1976

265-53            May 28 – Dec. 1976

265-54            Feb. 28 – Mar. 23, 1977

265-55            Apr. 7 – Aug. 11, 1977

265-56            Aug. 23 – Oct. 26, 1977

265-57            Nov. 1 – Dec. 20, 1977

265-58            Jan. 5, 1978

 

Box 4:

 

265-59            Jan. 10 – Jun. 27, 1978

265-60            Jul. 20 – Dec. 28, 1978

265-61            Apr. 2, 1979 – Nov. 13, 1980

265-62            Jun. 8 – Nov. 17, 1981

265-63            Dec. 1983

265-64            1984-1985

 

Series III: Interview Materials

One photograph of David P. Levy, circa 1996, and an audiocassette copy of an interview between Levy and Beatrice R. Owsley from May 14, 1996.

 

265-65            Audiocassette interview of David P. Levy by Beatrice R. Owsley, May 14, 1996

                        Photograph of David P. Levy

 

 

 

Index Terms

 

 

Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project

Levy, David P.

Louisiana Office of Public Works

Orleans Parish Levee Board

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers