1.27.2016

1966: 'The Green Book'


First published in 1936, "The Green Book" -- variously titled "The Negro Motorist Green Book" and "The Negro Travelers' Green Book" -- provided information on how blacks could travel more safely. The last edition was published in 1966; the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 had lessened the need for such a guide.
     -- Image from National Postal Museum: @

Note: Most of the editions can be viewed online at The New York Public Library's Digital Collections site: @ (Also see the NYPL's "Navigating The Green Book": @)

Summaries
* "The Green Book" (The Postal Record, 2013): @
* "An atlas of self-reliance: The Negro Motorist's Green Book" (National Museum of American History, 2015): @
* "The segregation-era travel guide that saved black Americans from having to sleep in their cars" (Vox, 2015): @ 

Similar guides
* "Directory of Negro Hotels and Guest Houses in the United States" (1939, National Park Service): @
* "Travel Guide of Negro Hotels and Guest Houses" (1942, David Rumsey Map Collection; search for title): @ 
* "Go: Guide to Pleasant Motoring" (1959, The Newberry, Chicago): @

Books
* "Technology and the African-American Experience: Needs and Opportunities for Study" (Bruce Sinclair, 2004): @
* "Republic of Drivers: A Cultural History of Automobility in America" (Cotten Seiler, 2008): @
* "Divided Highways: Building the Interstate Highways, Transforming American Life" (Tom Lewis, 2013): @
* "Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism" (James M. Loewen, 2013): @

Other resources
* Map of 1956 listings (University of South Carolina): @
* "Driving While Black: The Car and Race Relations in Modern America" (Thomas J. Sugrue, Automobile in American Life and Society): @
* "The Architecture of Racial Segregation: The Challenges of Preserving the Problematical Past" (Robert R. Weyeneth, 2005): @
* "Route 66 and the Historic Negro Motorist Green Book" (National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, National Park Service): @
* Mapping The Green Book: @
* The Green Book Chronicles: @
* The Green Book Project: @
* " 'Green Book' Helped African Americans Travel Safely" (NPR, 2010): @
* "The Green Book" (podcast): @ 

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