1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff. 2 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:11,320 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum here. As he was growing up in Baltimore 3 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifties, the author and playwright Calvin Alexander 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: Ramsay never really questioned why his family, like all the 5 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: other black families he knew, would leave for vacation car 6 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:24,959 Speaker 1: trips at two or three in the morning, and he 7 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: never thought twice about the fact that the family always 8 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:31,319 Speaker 1: slept at private homes instead of in hotels, used the 9 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: side of the road as a restroom, and packed their 10 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 1: own food with them for the length of the journey. 11 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: Only years later did Ramsey realize that his parents avoided restaurants, 12 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:44,639 Speaker 1: gas stations, and hotels in order to protect him from 13 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: the racist degradations and very real dangers of traveling will 14 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: black in nineteen fifties America. The nineteen sixty four Civil 15 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: Rights Act formally ended segregation and made it a crime 16 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: to discriminate on the basis of color, But the tradition 17 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: of the Great American road trip has always been very 18 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: different for families of color. Especially before the Act passed, 19 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: Black motorists traveling outside of major city centers had no 20 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: way of knowing if the local service station would sell 21 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: them gas or if there were any restaurants serving black 22 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 1: customers within a day's drive. In nineteen thirty six, a 23 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 1: black mailman living in Harlem, New York, decided to do 24 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: something about it. That's when, inspired by Jewish publications that 25 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: listed safe places for Jewish travelers to eat and sleep 26 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:34,919 Speaker 1: on the road, Victor Hugo Green published the first edition 27 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: of the Negro Motorist Green Book, of that being the 28 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: accepted nomenclature for Black Americans at the time. Inside the 29 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: pages of the Green Book, as it became known, black 30 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,760 Speaker 1: travelers could find state by state listings of hotels and 31 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: private tourist homes to spend the night, plus restaurants, barbershops, 32 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: service stations, and stores where their business was welcome. You 33 00:01:57,680 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: might be familiar with the Green Book through the twenty 34 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: twenty television series Lovecraft Country, or the novel it was 35 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: based on of the same name, or through the film 36 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: Green Book, though the film has been widely denounced for 37 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: its cloying and inaccurate portrayals of real life people like 38 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: black pianist Dr Donald Waldridge Shirley. The aforementioned author, Calvin 39 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: Alexander Ramsey himself wrote a popular children's book in ten 40 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: called Ruth and the Green Book, as well as a 41 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: play called The Green Book. When we spoke with Ramsey, 42 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: he explained that Green relied on a network of fellow 43 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,120 Speaker 1: black mailmen across the country to compile listings of businesses 44 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: and private residents and mail the addresses back to Green's 45 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: wife in Harlem, who would add them to the always 46 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: expanding publication. A new edition of The Green Book was 47 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: published every year from nineteen thirty six through nineteen sixty 48 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: four and sold at Esso service stations and other smaller retailers. 49 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: So a brand that's today part of ex On Mobile, 50 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: was known for being widely welcoming of black employees, franchisees, 51 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:04,639 Speaker 1: and customers. The Green Book was a lifeline for black travelers, 52 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: many of whom carried fresh memories of humiliation by white 53 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: business owners. Not only in the Jim Crow South, plenty 54 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,639 Speaker 1: of northern and western towns and cities had sundown laws 55 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: stating that no black person could be within the city 56 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: limits after nightfall. Conducting interviews for a forthcoming documentary on 57 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: The Green Book, Ramsey spoke with a woman who can't 58 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:29,679 Speaker 1: forget being a little girl on a family road trip 59 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: through Florida in the early nineteen fifties when she suddenly 60 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: became ill and needed a place to rest. Ramsey said 61 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: her father went to three or four different hotels and 62 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: motels and they turned him away. He said, my daughter 63 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: is really ill and needs a bed to rest peacefully 64 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: for a while, and they all said no. She remembers 65 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: it was the first time she had ever seen her 66 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: father cry. The Green Book was created to ensure that 67 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: other black families didn't have to endure such degradations, difficult teas, 68 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: and potential dangers. Flipping through the ninety edition, there are 69 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: paid advertisements from black owned businesses, in addition to detailed 70 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: listings for every major city in each state. In some locales, 71 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:17,279 Speaker 1: options were limited. South Dakota, for example, had only two listings, 72 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: a service station and the private tourist home of one 73 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: Mrs J. Moxley. Included in the forty eight page booklet 74 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: is a letter from a grateful reader named WILLIAMS. Smith 75 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: from Hackensack, New Jersey, who wrote, we earnestly believe the 76 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,360 Speaker 1: Green Book will mean as much, if not more, to us, 77 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: as the Triple A means to the white race. Ramsey 78 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 1: explained that roadside assistance organizations like Triple A often didn't 79 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: accept black members, and that savvy black travelers would bring 80 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: along extra fan belts and spark plugs for long journeys. 81 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: Seven edition of the Green Book starts with a section 82 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: on automotive preparedness and how to keep a car up 83 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:58,279 Speaker 1: and running. Victor Greene may have left school after the 84 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: eighth grade, but his brilliant publication opened up America's roads 85 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: and highways to millions of black families. Green died in 86 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty four, years shy of the passing of the 87 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: Civil Rights Act, a moment he had long awaited. Green 88 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,480 Speaker 1: wrote in the introduction to the nine edition, quote, there 89 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: will be a day sometime in the near future when 90 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: this guide will not have to be published. That is, 91 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 1: when we as a race will have equal opportunities and 92 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,680 Speaker 1: privileges in the United States. It will be a great 93 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: day for us to suspend this publication, for then we 94 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,480 Speaker 1: can go wherever we please and without embarrassment. But until 95 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: that time comes, we shall continue to publish this information 96 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:46,280 Speaker 1: for your convenience each year. Today's episode was written by 97 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: Dave Ruse and produced by Tyler Clang for more in 98 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: this and lots of other topics, visit how stuff works 99 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I heart Radio. 100 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i 101 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 102 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:08,640 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.