During the 1940s and ’50s, Americans in numbers like never before, took to the road for both business and pleasure. African-Americans were as eager to do so as anyone else, but travelling long distances by car was too often a trip into the unknown. America, to a great extent, was still racially segregated, and finding places to buy gas, get food, use the restroom, or sleep overnight was a challenge, and could be more than just a matter of inconvenience. 10,000 towns across the country, including many in Missouri and Kansas, were “sundown towns” where non-whites had to be out of the city limits by dusk or risk being picked up by the police, or worse.

Enter Victor H. Green, a New Jersey postman and sometimes music manager in Harlem. From musicians, he heard the horror stories of what African-Americans who travelled faced. In 1936, Green published a pamphlet called The Negro Motorist Green Book which listed where it was safe for African-Americans to stop, buy gas, eat, and spend the night. Where no hotels would accept African-American guests, Green listed “tourist homes,” private residences where a traveler could rent a room for the night.

The first edition addressed just New York City, but demand was so great, the following year it was expanded to cover the entire country. Because of the dire urgency, it was updated continually with new editions published every year. For example, in the 1949 edition, under Kansas City, Missouri, were listed 4 service stations, 1 garage, 19 restaurants, 7 hotels, and 2 tourist homes to meet the immediate needs of travelers, most in the blocks surrounding the 18th and Vine area. However, by this time Green had expanded the book to also include other kinds of places like drug stores, barber shops, beauty parlors, tailors, liquor stores, road houses, taverns, and night clubs where African-Americans were welcomed.

In his introduction to the 1936 edition, Victor Green wrote: “There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published.” Unfortunately, Green, who died in 1960, did not see that day. However, following passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the 1966 edition of the Green Book would be the last.

[ With appreciation to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum ]

Image Top Left:
The Negro Motorist Green Book, helped African-Americans find places to buy gas, get food, use the restroom or sleep overnight.

Image Top Right:
John “Buck” O’Neil, first baseman and manager of the Kansas City Monarchs. His Green Book is in The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum collection.

Image Bottom Left:
In the Green Book under Kansas City, Kansas, travelers would find listings for garages, restaurants, drug stores, even barber shops, beauty parlors, night clubs, and road houses where African-Americans were welcomed.

Image Bottom Middle:
The Street Hotel at 1510 East 18th Street, in Kansas City was listed in The Green Book.

Image Bottom Right:
The Booker T. Hotel at 1823 Vine Street, where musicians like Coleman Hawkins and Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra stayed, was listed in The Green Book.