Green Book

Victor Hugo Green, Harlem, New York postal worker turned travel writer, published The Negro Motorist Green Book, also known as The Negro Travelers’ Green Book and The Travelers’ Green Book, from 1936 to 1966. The guide provided locations for businesses across the United States, including Indiana, with proprietors friendly to Black travelers. Green adapted the concept from a guide for Jewish travelers.  

The guide’s importance to Black travelers rivaled that of the AAA travel guides for white travelers but with the added safety component. All Americans, Black and white, seized the opportunity to travel with the rise of automobile use and its affordability during the 1920s and 1930s. However, Black Americans faced daily prejudice and racial segregation on foot in their hometowns and especially when traveling to new places. “Sundown Towns” brought additional hurdles to Black motorists who felt the weight of vacating the streets before dusk or facing the wrath of white citizens who held firm to these unwritten rules during the Jim Crow era. Hence, Black travelers relied on word of mouth to learn of gas stations, hotels, and other businesses catering to them. The Green Book provided a reliable source of that information and eased the fears for Black travelers. 

In 1936 Green’s first travel guide for Black travelers covered only New York City. Within a year he expanded the guide to national coverage. At its peak, Green published almost 15,000 copies of the guide. The guide included business listings by city and advice for safe travel on roads. Businesses included hotels, taverns, restaurants, garages, service stations, dance halls, barber shops, beauty parlors, and the like. Black travelers needed to know which white-owned establishments would serve them. The Green Book also included advertisements for new vehicles and instructions for how to service the car. By 1949 the Green Book included international locations in places such as the Caribbean, Europe, and Mexico.  

Beginning in 1939, the Green Book highlighted businesses in 17 Indiana cities that were friendly to Black travelers. This included safe places for lodging and food as well as other businesses such as beauty parlors, drug stores, garages, night clubs, service stations, and tailors. Large cities like Indianapolis or Gary listed over 75 businesses; smaller cities like Elkhart or Jeffersonville included one or two safe stops.

Though not considered a “Sundown Town,” Indianapolis had segregated churches, schools, and theaters. For this reason, Black motorists still needed to be strategic in finding Black-owned businesses while traveling through Indianapolis. View the map to see the Indianapolis venues appearing in the Green Book from 1939 to 1967:

After the passage of the Civil Rights Movement in 1964, Black people did not face as many restrictions to travel as before. With more freedom to travel and less cause for safety concerns for Black motorists, the Green Book ceased publication after the 1966/1967 edition. 

Though most of the venues that appeared in the Green Book no longer stand, the guide exceeded its goal of highlighting safe spaces for Black travelers. It also brought to focus the achievements, determination, enterprising spirit, and resilience of many of the proprietors of the establishments listed in the books. The directory also showed the development, growth, and decline in cities and towns. Following a common trend across America, urban renewal was top of mind for city planners, and Indianapolis’ historic Black communities suffered to make room for highways and development.

Regardless of whether the venues listed in the Green Book still exist, the travel guide helps tell the story of Black life in Indianapolis and across the nation. It provides a glimpse into the Black travel experience from the 1930s to the 1960s. 

Further Reading