THE NEGRO MOTORIST GREEN BOOK
How African-American Motorists Drove Around Jim Crow
Every year, Zagat publishes a series of guides to the restaurants in virtually every major city in the United States. The guides feature short, curated descriptions of each eatery, touching upon the must-try (or must-avoid) dishes, service, decor, and of course, prices. But what Zagat doesn’t tell you is if the restaurant will serve you if you’re African American.
There’s a good reason for that: For more than fifty years, it’s been illegal for a restaurant in the United States to refuse service to a customer on the basis of his or her race. Before this legislation, however, traveling through certain parts of the country was difficult for African-American citizens, as finding a place to eat or sleep that would accept their business was a challenge. Fortunately, one man took a lead in solving this issue. The result: The Negro Motorist Green Book.
In 1932, an African-American postal worker named Victor H. Green came up with the idea for a guidebook that would detail the businesses that welcomed African-American travelers. Green’s first edition, which came out four years later in 1936, focused on restaurants and hotels in the New York City area, as that’s where he lived and had firsthand knowledge of where he was and wasn’t welcome due to his race.
The guide proved popular, so Green looked to expand its reach. He asked his readers to send in tips on other businesses; any accepted tip earned the correspondent $1. By 1941, Green had upped the bounty to $5 per accepted tip. He also asked his fellow postal workers to help research. According to The New York Times, many mail carriers would “ask around on their routes” in furtherance of Greens’s efforts. His plan succeeded: As CNN explains, with these tips, the guide “eventually expanded to include everything from lodging and gas stations to tailor shops and doctors’ offices across the nation, as well as in Bermuda, Mexico, and Canada.”
Beyond being a boon for those facing discrimination, the Green Book was a commercial success. Many African American–friendly businesses advertised in it. Esso, a precursor brand to ExxonMobil, was a particularly important advertiser: Not only was this chain a financial supporter of the Green Book, but it was also a major distributor of it. Esso was also one of the few companies at this time that allowed African Americans to become franchisees.
Before the 1940s were over, The Negro Motorist Green Book had become a must-have guide for tens of thousands of African-American travelers, to the benefit of the larger community as well.
And for an even better reason than anyone could have hoped for: The Green Book no longer exists. With the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it became effectively obsolete, with Green publishing the final edition in 1966.