The Green Book: African American Experiences of Travel and Place in the U.S.

First published in 1936 by World War One Veteran and United States Postal worker turned travel agent Victor H. Green, the hotels and restaurants listed in the original "Negro Motorist Green Book" were limited to the New York City area. Immediately popular, the Green Book became a national guide and was a crowd-sourced publication in that users and businesses listed could recommend new entries for subsequent years.

The first edition totaled 10 pages and grew over the three decades it was in circulation (with a brief hiatus during WWII). The final Green Book was published in 1966 and reflected the expanded scope of the guide as the name of that 99-page publication was the Traveler's Green Book: International Edition.

NCSS.D1.5.6-8. Determine the kinds of sources that will be helpful in answering compelling and supporting questions, taking into consideration multiple points of view represented in the sources.

NCSS.D2.Geo.5.9-12. Evaluate how political and economic decisions throughout time have influenced cultural and environmental characteristics of various places and regions.

NCSS.D2.His.12.6-8. Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to identify further areas of inquiry and additional sources.

NCSS.D2.His.15.6-8. Evaluate the relative influence of various causes of events and developments in the past.

NCSS.D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.

What does it mean to belong? Use the handout to reflect and record your thoughts in prose form or design a map that plots places where you live or more broadly where you do and do not feel welcome. Consider the extent to which one's sense of belonging can be affected by where they are or travel.

Draw upon historic examples of how regardless of popularity (i.e. musicians, athletes, actresses, etc.), Black people were not permitted to patron some “white only” institutions in the U.S. This article offers examples that illustrate how such instances were not limited to a single geographic region of the country (i.e. not just Southern states). 

Develop questions to investigate based on the short video entitled "The Negro Motorist Green Book and Route 66” and an excerpt from the 1948 Green Book.

 Questions for discussion and initial inquiry:

• Where do you feel welcome? Unwelcome?
• Why did Victor H. Green create the Green Book?
• What is a sundown town?
• Which locations in your state appear in the Green Book?

Activity 1. Time, Place, and the Green Book

Design questions to guide your investigation of multiple sources and text types to learn more about this era and phenomenon in U.S. history. Use newspapers published between 1937-1967 available through Chronicling America to construct the historical context of people's experiences, as well as maps, images, primary source texts, and more to develop a response to the guiding question: How did the Jim Crow era affect how African Americans traveled and worked in the U.S.? Your research may focus on specific places in the U.S., the lives of entertainers or athletes, why certain places added more businesses to the Green Book than others, patterns of migration following WWII and what this meant for shifts in population, or any other topics that interest you regarding the compelling question and this topic. Use the handout to assist with the organization of your questions and research.

Activity 2. Telling a Story

Based on the research completed on the issues and topics you chose and the guiding questions, organize and share your findings using one of the following options:

1. Take on the perspective of someone from history (real or imagined) and use your research to create a digital map and use storyboard software to record a voice over that narrates your journey, what you experienced, and how you used the Green Book as you traveled. Setting the story in a specific state or region of the U.S. and year will help with identification of actual historical events you might have encountered.  
2. Illustrate a response (portrait, comic, map, etc.) that includes a short written or audio recorded synopsis of what the author is trying to communicate to the audience.
3. Write a short historical fiction or scene to be performed about traveling in the U.S. between 1937-1967 based on the perspectives of athletes, musicians, actors, and/or other travelers you researched and include documented evidence from the Green Book. Rich, descriptive writing that blends history and imagination around dialogue is encouraged. 
4. Construct a response in any form mentioned here or of original design that brings information about the 19th century underground railroad and/or the Great Migration together with research on use of the Green Book.
5. Take on the role of a performer who used the Green Book between 1937-1967 to create a piece of music or art about your experience traveling and performing.
6. A document-based written response that establishes a thesis and cites specific information from texts as evidence.
7. Consider the role that local history plays in the project you are constructing. Analyze the Green Book to identify locations in your city and/or state that appear in the Green Book and then construct a map or conduct interviews with area historians, business owners, community leaders, etc. to learn more through an oral history project. 

Discussion questions:

• Why was U.S. route 66 significant to African Americans?
• Who used and who operated the stops included in the Green Book?
• To what extent was the Green Book part of a 20th century “underground railroad”?
• To what extent is the Green Book related to the Great Migration of the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

Closing reflections can include consideration of the short and long term connections, including contemporary issues, using the following questions:

1. To what extent did issues faced by African Americans in the 1940s change (improve?) over time?
2. What can be done to prevent similar issues from occurring today and tomorrow?

Chronicling America 

Mapping the Green Book

The History Channel—“Before the Green Book…”

New York Public Library Labs archives—Green Book

New York Public Library Labs—Green Book map

New York Public Library Digital Collections—Green Book (select issues from the 1930s, 40s, 50s, and 60s)

NPR story on the Chitlin’ Circuit (musicians)

California Humanities project—Interview with Candacy Taylor

Playwright Calvin A. Ramsay’s The Green Book

Calvin A. Ramsay’s children’s book Ruth and the Green Book

Visionary Project—“Bill Russell: Violations of Civil Rights & Discrimination in Lexington” (video)

How to design a comic strip

Music of Dr. Don Shirley (main character in the 2019 film) and other artists who used the Green Book when traveling can be played as students conduct their inquiries.