‘Green Book’ Highlights Travel Dangers Faced by African Americans

TheVillageCelebration is applauding the new movie, The Green Book, by reposting our article first published in 2014 about the trusted travel guide used by Black Americans to locate safe places to stop during road trips. In the movie, pianist Don Shirley played by Oscar-winner Marhershala Ali is driven around the country in the 1960s for a concert tour by ‘Tony the Lip’ portrayed by Viggo Mortensen The National Board of Review bestowed its ‘Best Film’ award on the movie. 

Jim Crow laws still determined where African Americans could eat, stay, or visit in the South and all around the country. Getting from one city to another involved careful planning.

The Negro Motorist Green Book became the travel resource most African Americans relied on when they hit the road. Victor Green, a postal worker in New York, started publishing the “Green Book” in 1936.  It contained the names of restaurants, hotels, gas stations, tailors, and even private homes where travelers would be safe and welcome.

“These books helped guide them when they were traveling. I would hope every African American had access to one, and I can’t imagine how they would have made it through the era without one,” says Dr. Raymond Doswell, curator of the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City.

The museum treasures its copy of the travel guide, donated in 2006 by the late Buck O’Neill who played for the Negro League’s Kansas City Monarchs. After his career ended with the Monarchs, O’Neill became a scout for Major League Baseball and traveled extensively. He used the Green Book to navigate the pitfalls and snares African American travelers regularly encountered.

Dr. Doswell explains that O’Neill “was born in the South. But by this time, he had spent a lot of time in the North and Midwest. As a scout, however, he made it a point to scout at southern colleges.” He recalls the baseball great affectionately referring to it as the “black book.”

As the Civil Rights Movement swept across the country and rearranged the rules, African Americans became more comfortable traveling. Hotels and restaurants opened their doors to all patrons. The last Green Book was published in 1964, months after the March on Washington.