The Negro Motorist Green Book
The Green Book: Guide to Freedom
Yoruba Richen talking:
There’s so much history within the pages of The Green Book. The Green Book was created and first published in 1936 by a man named Victor Hugo Green. He was a postal worker based in Harlem. And he had the idea for the book because of a Jewish friend of his had a guide for the Catskills for Jewish families, where they could go in the Catskills. And he looked at that, and he said, “Hey, this would be a great idea. This is something that the black community needs.” He also had a—was married to a woman named Alma, who lived in Virginia, and they would travel down to Virginia. And he, you know, experienced all the things that African Americans experienced at that time in terms of traveling. And so he created The Green Book.
Victor Green was a postal worker from Harlem, New York, one of the fastest-growing African-American communities in the country. But even in his own neighborhood, African Americans were unwelcome at many hotels and other establishments. And at Harlem’s famed nightclubs, such as the Cotton Club, where top black entertainers, like Lena Horne and Duke Ellington, packed the house every night, blacks were not allowed to sit in the audience. In 1936, Green created and published the first Negro Motorist Green-Book, which listed businesses where black customers were welcome.
The idea of The Green Book is to give the Negro traveler information that will keep him from running into difficulties, embarrassments and to make his trips more enjoyable.
The Green Book started out only listing locations in New York, mainly in Harlem. Two of the most prominent were the Hotel Theresa and the YMCA, which served as one of Harlem’s most important recreational and cultural centers. During the 1930s, dancers from the Cotton Club rehearsed at the YMCA. And many famous luminaries, such as writer Langston Hughes and boxer Joe Lewis, stayed there. But The Green Book would soon outgrow Harlem. And by the time it ended publication, it had become more than just a travel guide. It had become a roadmap to some of the most significant people, successful businesses and most important political milestones of the 20th century.
Eventually, The Green Book would list more than 9,500 places between its pages. Today, only about a third of those sites are still standing.
Traveling during that time, for African Americans, was, to say the least, a dangerous proposition. Not only was there segregation in the South, places where African Americans obviously were not allowed to go, to eat, to sleep, but also the North and the West. So, you know, there’s this mythology that racism and segregation is confined to the South, or was confined to the South. That’s not true. The North and the West had the majority of what we call “sundown towns,” places where African Americans had to get out, had to leave town. There were maybe signs, a bell might be rung, for African Americans to leave the town. They were not welcome, and there was the potential for violence.
– In fact, that was also referenced in the Hollywood film Green Book. Which has been criticized for various reasons the perspective it was told from, the white driver’s son—it was based on his book—and not consulting Don Shirley’s family. This remarkable pianist, classical, jazz, who took this tour in 1962 through the South. But you definitely have the sense of violence he faced.
that was one of the most frustrating parts for me and for many people watching the Hollywood film, is that the film is called The Green Book—The Green Book is only a small part of the film—but the places that they went to were really not nice places. they were dumps. And that’s not what was in The Green Book. That’s not the extent. The Green Book had 9,500 listings over the period of 30-some-odd years. And, you know, one of those places was the Gaston Motel, the finest motel, a Negro motel, in the country. So, that was a real misrepresentation.
The other thing the film did was that the driver and Dr. Shirley only used the book in the South. So, when they were in the North and in the West, you didn’t see them using the book. And then, when they get to the South is when they use the book. And as I said before, that’s not true. I mean, these listings were all over, because African Americans had to navigate those dangerous roads all over the country.
there were many communities like it all over the country—where African Americans developed this community for themselves to have vacation and relax in safety, and a safe haven. That’s what everybody said when we went up there and filmed. This is the North. This is in northwest Michigan, upper Michigan. And it was—it’s such a beautiful place. The history is amazing. The development started in 1910 by one of the first African-American heart surgeons at University of Chicago. These people have been there for generations, and they have such pride in their community. At its heyday, as it says in the film, there were—at one point it was the biggest resort in the Midwest, black or white. And today, of course, it’s not the heyday that it was, but folks are trying to develop the buildings, redevelop the buildings, encourage people to come back. There are events there. And as one of the characters, one of the subjects, says in the film, the soil is so rich, you know, you really feel it when you’re there.
– 1949 edition of The Negro Motorist Green Book. On the cover it says, “Carry your Green Book with you—You may need it.” And under that is a quote by Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejudice.” Inside, on page three, just after the introduction, is a column by Wendell P. Alston, a special representative of the Esso Standard Oil Company, titled, “The Green Book helps solve your travel problems.” Alston writes, quote, “The Negro traveler’s inconveniences are many and they are increasing because today so many more are traveling, individually and in groups.” On the next page is a picture of Alston along with James A. Jackson, with the caption, “Special representatives of the Esso marketers in their New York office.”
That was one of the most interesting discoveries that we had in making this film. Esso gas station, which was Standard Oil, owned by Standard Oil, which was owned by Rockefeller, had a very early program to promote to African Americans, and not only that, but to hire African-American scientists and chemists. He was married to a woman named Spelman. Her last name was Spelman. They come from a long line of abolitionists. Spelman College, the HBCU in Atlanta, was created by their family. So there was a history of this corporate behemoth working with the African-American community. And they distributed The Green Book at their Esso gas stations. And that is how—one of the ways that The Green Book was able to be so widely distributed and so popular.
the stories that we were finding and that we were coming upon, so many of them were women-owned businesses. And at one point, I start looking through the pages of The Green Book. They’re all online; the Schomburg has them all online, so anybody can look and look up their town to see what’s listed. But there are all these pictures of women owners, of women business owners. They had sent in their pictures. They were advertising in it. And, you know, everything from restaurants and motels and hotels. So, black women entrepreneurship is something that is a part of our experience and a part of our history.
What I am also very excited about is that the fiction film has given visibility to this piece. And hopefully people will—you know, their interest will be piqued by the fiction film, no matter what happens on Sunday night, and then they will come and watch this documentary.
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Yoruba Richen
director and writer of the documentary The Green Book: Guide to Freedom and director of the documentary program at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
— source democracynow.org | Feb 22, 2019