The Negro Motorist Green Book

When most people think of Route 66, they picture a smiling white family cruising down the open highway in their shiny convertible car. But for travelers of color, the experience could be a very different one.

"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, commonly referred to as Jim Crow. The Green Book listed businesses that would accept African American customers.

The book was the vision of Victor Green, an African American US postal employee from Harlem, New York. 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 that 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 essential resource.

The Green Book also provided a service that made lodging reservations for clients. The listings were verified annually to ensure accuracy.  In addition to business listings, the books included travel articles, driving tips, and essays highlighting locations of interest. A principal sponsor for the Green Book was the Esso Standard Oil Company, which distributed the books and solicited African American customers through them.

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 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."

Author: 

Tunnell, H. (2014, July 29) The Negro Motorist Green Book (1936-1964).

Retrieved from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/
negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1964/

View the New York Public Library digital collection of Green Books: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/the-green-book

Article prepared by David Dunlap, Route 66 IECA Board member