Summer vacation travel is ending as children are preparing to return to school. Millions of people hit the road each year, to get away from their old surroundings, to see and learn how people live, and meet new and old friends. Modern travel has given millions of people an opportunity to see the wonders of the world. However, in the early twentieth century the white traveler had no difficulty in getting accommodations, but with the Negro it was different. He, before the advent of The Negro Motorist Green Book, had to depend on word of mouth, and many times accommodations were not available.
 
Apparently, the Green Book was to African Americans what the AAA is to white Americans. The Negro Motorist Green Book, popularly known as the Green Book, was a travel guide intended to help African American motorists avoid social obstacles prevalent during the period of racial segregation and Jim Crow.  The Green Book listed businesses that would accept African American customers.
 
The book, first published in 1936 and sold for 25 cents, was the vision of Victor Green, an African American US postal employee from Harlem, New York.  His book would eventually include every state and several international destinations before ceasing publication in 1964.  This book was the most popular of several tourist guides created specifically for an African American audience. These types of travel guides were necessary during the Jim Crow era because African Americans were subject to acts of discrimination and occasional intimidation as many businesses refused to accept them as customers.  African American motorists, for example were warned to avoid sundown towns which required minorities to be outside the city limits before sundown, hence the name.  African American travel could be fraught with risk and guides like the Green Book were an important resource.
  The Green Book also provided a service that made lodging reservations for clients.  In addition to business listings, the books included travel articles, driving tips, and essays highlighting locations of interest.  An important sponsor for the Green Book was the Esso Standard Oil Company (one of the few businesses to sell gas to Negroes). Early versions listed a variety of businesses such as hotels (see Poro College in St. Louis below), tourist homes, restaurants, barber shops, beauty parlors, service stations, and taverns.
 
Green wrote that his book would not be necessary "when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges."  He died in 1960 and the last edition of his guide was published in 1964.  The 1956 creation of the national highway system diminished the need for these travel guides because highways minimized contact with local communities, decreasing chances for discrimination against African American motorists.  Eventually, the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act made the Green Book and similar publications obsolete, just as Green predicted.  

Sources: Victor H. Green, The Negro Motorist Green Book (New York: Victor H. Green & Company, 1949).

Michelle Carter

Editor

Editor