The Greening of America

 

Since it's Black History Month, we should be reminded that along with a host of other problems they had to deal with in the first six or so decades of the 20th century, African-Americans had to be very careful when it came to taking a simple vacation. Many hotels and motels wouldn't let them stay the night. In fact, there were whole villages and towns (especially in the South) that wouldn't let them stay the night, at least not if they still wanted to be around in the morning. So to make sure that the black traveler seeking a break from their concerns didn't end up running into even bigger concerns, a Harlem African-American postal worker by the name of the Victor Hugo Green scrounged some money together in 1936 and began publishing his own travel guides, invariably titled The Negro Motorists Green Book or The Negro Travelers Green book, or more informally, as the books became more and more popular (allowing Green to retire early from the post office), the Green Book. These books listed a variety of business, as well as whole neighborhoods and towns, that could be counted on not to give a hard time to black travelers. The guides were put out annually for 28 years, finally ceasing publication upon passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. These days, African-Americans are free to rely on the same AAA triptiks as white folks, as well as in more recent years the Internet. All well and good, though don't be too surprised if in the near future something very much like the Green Book makes a...

...comeback.