WEBVTT - How Did the 'Green Book' Change Life for Black Travelers?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Boglebom. When author and playwright Calvin Alexander Ramsey

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<v Speaker 1>was growing up in Baltimore in the nineteen fifties, he

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<v Speaker 1>never really questioned why his family, like all other black

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<v Speaker 1>families he knew, would leave for vacation car trips at

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<v Speaker 1>two or three in the morning, and he never thought

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<v Speaker 1>twice about the fact that the family always slept at

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<v Speaker 1>private homes instead of hotels, used to the side of

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<v Speaker 1>the road as a restroom, and packed their own food

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<v Speaker 1>with them for the length of the journey. Only years

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<v Speaker 1>later did Ramsey realize that his parents avoided restaurants, gas stations,

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<v Speaker 1>and hotels in order to protect him from the racist

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<v Speaker 1>degradations and very real dangers of traveling while black in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifties America. Until the nineteen sixty four Civil Rights

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<v Speaker 1>Act formally ended segregation and made it a crime to

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<v Speaker 1>discriminate on the basis of skin color, the tradition of

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<v Speaker 1>the Great American road trip was very different for families

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<v Speaker 1>of color. Black motorists traveling outside of major city centers

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<v Speaker 1>had no way of knowing whether the local service station

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<v Speaker 1>would sell gas or if there were any restaurants serving

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<v Speaker 1>black customers within a hundred mile radius. In nineteen thirty six,

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<v Speaker 1>a black mailman living in Harlem, New York, decided to

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<v Speaker 1>do something about it. Inspired by Jewish publications that listed

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<v Speaker 1>safe places for Jewish travelers to eat and sleep on

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<v Speaker 1>the road, Victor Hugo Green published the first edition of

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<v Speaker 1>the Green Book. Inside the pages of the Green Book,

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<v Speaker 1>black travelers could find state by state listings of hotels

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<v Speaker 1>and private tourist homes to spend the night, plus restaurants, barbershops,

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<v Speaker 1>service stations, and stores where their business was welcome. Calvin

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<v Speaker 1>Alexander Ramsay, who wrote a popular children's book in two

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<v Speaker 1>called Ruth and the Green Book, as well as a

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<v Speaker 1>play about the Green Book, explains that Green relied on

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<v Speaker 1>a network of fellow blackmailmen across the country to compile

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<v Speaker 1>listings of businesses and private residents, and then mailed addresses

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<v Speaker 1>back to Green's wife and Harlem, who would add them

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<v Speaker 1>to the always expanding publication. A new edition of the

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<v Speaker 1>Green Book was published every year from nineteen thirty six

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<v Speaker 1>through nineteen sixty four and sold at black owned ESSO

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<v Speaker 1>service stations. The Green Book was a lifeline for black travelers,

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<v Speaker 1>many of whom carried fresh memories of humiliation at the

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<v Speaker 1>hands of white business owners. And not only in the

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<v Speaker 1>Jim Crow South, Plenty of northern and western towns and

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<v Speaker 1>cities had sundown laws stating that no black person should

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<v Speaker 1>be found within the city limits after nightfall. Conducting interviews

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<v Speaker 1>for a forthcoming documentary on The Green Book, Ramsey spoke

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<v Speaker 1>to a woman who, as a little girl on a

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<v Speaker 1>family road trip through Florida in the early nineteen fifties,

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<v Speaker 1>suddenly became ill and needed a place to rest. Ramsey

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<v Speaker 1>said her father went to three or four different hotels

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<v Speaker 1>and motels and they turned him away. He said, my

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<v Speaker 1>daughter is really ill and needs a bed to rest

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<v Speaker 1>peacefully for a while, and they all said no. She

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<v Speaker 1>remembers it was the first time she had ever seen

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<v Speaker 1>in her father cry. The Green Book was created to

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<v Speaker 1>ensure that other black families didn't have to endure such

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<v Speaker 1>dehumanizing treatment in an age when many white business owners

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<v Speaker 1>felt it was perfectly acceptable to refuse black patrons. Flipping

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<v Speaker 1>through the nineteen forty edition, there are paid advertisements from

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<v Speaker 1>black owned businesses, in addition to detailed listings for every

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<v Speaker 1>major city in each state. In some locals, options were limited.

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<v Speaker 1>South Dakota, for example, only had two listings, a service

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<v Speaker 1>station and the private tourist home of Mrs J. Moxley.

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<v Speaker 1>Included in the forty eight page booklet is a letter

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<v Speaker 1>from a grateful reader named William Smith from Hackensack, New Jersey,

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<v Speaker 1>who wrote, we earnestly believe the Green Book will mean

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<v Speaker 1>as much, if not more, to us, as the Triple

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<v Speaker 1>A means to the white race. Ramsay explains that roadside

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<v Speaker 1>assistance organizations like Triple A often didn't accept black members,

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<v Speaker 1>and that savvy black travelers would bring along extra fan

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<v Speaker 1>belts and spark plugs for long journeys. Edition of the

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<v Speaker 1>Green Book starts with a section on automotive preparedness and

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<v Speaker 1>how to keep a car up and running. Victor Green's

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<v Speaker 1>publication opened up America's roads and highways to millions of

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<v Speaker 1>black families. He died in nineteen sixty four, years shy

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<v Speaker 1>of the passing of the Civil Rights Act, a moment

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<v Speaker 1>he had long awaited, Green wrote in the introduction to

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<v Speaker 1>the edition, there will be a day sometime in the

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<v Speaker 1>near future when this guide will not have to be published.

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<v Speaker 1>That is when we as a race will have equal

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<v Speaker 1>opportunities and privileges in the United States. It will be

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<v Speaker 1>a great day for us to suspend this publication, for

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<v Speaker 1>then we can go wherever we please and without embarrassment.

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<v Speaker 1>But until that time comes, she'll continue to publish this

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<v Speaker 1>information for your convenience each year. Today's episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Dave Rouse and published by Tyler Clang. For more

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<v Speaker 1>on this and lots of other topics, visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how Stuff Works dot com.