# The 'Negro Motorist Green Book' (1936-1967) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349 "2019-02-11T18:21:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/21 "2019-02-12T17:31:41Z")
The book’s slogan, a Mark Twain quote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice”. Well, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/22 "2019-02-12T17:56:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I looked up Connecticut in the 1947 directory and also found very few places listed. But the amount of travel through Connecticut was probably very little. And I think the guy who edited the directory concentrated on the Southern states, so perhaps he wasn’t as comprehensive about listings in the Northeast or Northwest? Mr. Green started in NYC, that being where he resided, and added more information as sent by readers. If there was more information on the South it’s simply because more people wrote to him from there; logical when you think of population densities. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/23 "2019-02-12T22:40:12Z")
If this was mainly compiled by reports from readers and readers were primarily black, then the reason for few Oregon places is because there were relatively few blacks in Oregon at the time. Especially before WWII. At that time there were only about 2000 blacks in the entire state. This not to say there was no racism in Oregon. There was tons of it. Still is in many parts of the state. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/24 "2019-02-12T23:04:10Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Could it be that ‘safe’ was the norm in Oregon and the listed places were guaranteed? Definitely not. The state constitution specifically banned African Americans from even living in the state, let alone owning any sort of property. Hell, it didn’t even ratify the 15th Amendment (letting blacks vote) till 1959. The same for the 14th (natural born citizen) till 1973. [This article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/06/07/when-portland-banned-blacks-oregons-shameful-history-as-an-all-white-state/) kind of goes over the legally ratified history of racism in Oregon. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/25 "2019-02-12T23:09:45Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Now, I wasn’t around then, so I may be talking out of my ass, but as I understand it, the situation was never that a white person felt unwelcome in a black establishment, but that a black person was very much unwelcome in a white one. (And other whites would think a white person weird or worse for doing something like drinking from a water fountain labeled for black people.) A while back, I read a self-published book by a white Midwestern man who contracted polio shortly before the vaccine came out in the early 1950s, and after he recovered from the disease itself, he and his father went to the center in Warm Springs, GA for further therapy. En route, they stopped at some place that had a public restroom and two black men in the facility were looking at them oddly; they assumed it was because of his wheelchair until they exited the restroom and saw the “COLORED” sign on the door. They hadn’t noticed, nor would they have cared; all they saw was the “MEN” part of the sign. Also a while back, we were talking about these books on another website, and one poster said that s/he wondered how many white people purchased them while traveling, so they would only patronize establishments where everyone was welcome. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/26 "2019-02-12T23:11:01Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > Definitely not. The state constitution specifically banned African Americans from even living in the state, let alone owning any sort of property. Hell, it didn’t even ratify the 15th Amendment (letting blacks vote) till 1959. The same for the 14th (natural born citizen) till 1973. [This article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/06/07/when-portland-banned-blacks-oregons-shameful-history-as-an-all-white-state/) kind of goes over the legally ratified history of racism in Oregon. That’s just incredible, and beyond disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/27 "2019-02-12T23:28:33Z")
Note that once a Constitutional amendment is ratified, it becomes the law in all states. States who hadn’t ratified it yet often didn’t bother to make the gesture. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/28 "2019-02-13T13:39:36Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Note that once a Constitutional amendment is ratified, it becomes the law in all states. States who hadn’t ratified it yet often didn’t bother to make the gesture. According to the wiki article, seven states including Oregon [specifically rejected the 15th amendment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Ratification), some before ratification, some after. So they don’t get off the hook. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/29 "2019-02-13T22:29:49Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I don’t think gas stations were segregated? Pretty sure anyone could get a fill up. [Maybe not?](https://spookycomics.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/drew-and-griffith.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/30 "2019-02-14T15:13:01Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The book’s slogan, a Mark Twain quote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice”. > > Well, maybe. Yup. Plenty of good ol’ boys who went overseas to fight in one or the other of the World Wars, and came back just as much bigoted assholes as ever. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > …one poster said that s/he wondered how many white people purchased them while traveling, so they would only patronize establishments where everyone was welcome. One of Lee Harvey Oswald’s few redeeming qualities was that he always defied segregation in New Orleans and purposefully sat in the back of the bus. > [@Lumpy](#): > > [Maybe not?](https://spookycomics.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/drew-and-griffith.jpg) Wow. I’m… glad I missed that episode. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/31 "2019-02-14T15:20:39Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > I randomly looked at the 1947 edition and was not at all surprised (but still saddened) by the Oregon section. ‘Safe’ places here were nearly non-existent. Yes, considering that Oregon was founded as a whites-only state, that’s not surprising at all. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/32 "2019-02-14T16:37:46Z")
[Esso stations](https://www.newsweek.com/2017/03/17/green-book-jim-crow-era-travel-guide-saved-black-lives-565430.html) were desegregated as a matter of corporate policy. They also sold the Green Book, allowing it to reach its targeted audience quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/33 "2019-02-22T14:55:47Z")
I am an “Investigation Discovery” addict, and last night I caught a program from 2015 from the series “The Injustice Files” (Al Roker and[Keith Beauchamp](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2007557/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm), producers) that dealt with [sundown towns](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7768174/?ref_=ttep_ep1). Accompanying Beauchamp for part of the trip to investigate historical sundown towns was [James Loewen](https://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281). They seemed to imply that most of the sundown towns were not in the South, though, and the ones they investigated were in Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana. In any case, though, the “Negro Motorist Green Book” was mentioned and featured prominently in the program. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/34 "2019-02-22T19:27:05Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I am an “Investigation Discovery” addict, and last night I caught a program from 2015 from the series “The Injustice Files” (Al Roker and[Keith Beauchamp](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2007557/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm), producers) that dealt with [sundown towns](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7768174/?ref_=ttep_ep1). Accompanying Beauchamp for part of the trip to investigate historical sundown towns was [James Loewen](https://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281). They seemed to imply that most of the sundown towns were not in the South, though, and the ones they investigated were in Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana. In any case, though, the “Negro Motorist Green Book” was mentioned and featured prominently in the program. Link? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/35 "2019-02-22T19:35:20Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Wow. I’m… glad I missed that episode. Just in case it’s not obvious, that’s a parody, drawn by a cartoonist who made a career out of caricatures. You can read the [interview](https://spookycomics.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/warts-and-all-the-drew-friedman-interview/) the image appears in for yourself, if you like, but he comes across as a hack trying to justify himself to me. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/36 "2019-02-22T19:42:27Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Link? If you’re asking for a link to the program, it was [this](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7768174/?ref_=ttep_ep1). ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/37 "2019-02-22T19:44:43Z")
I first became aware of the Green Book in the 1990s when a different sort of Green Book started to be published. It was a list of hotels that were friendly to LGBTQ couples. When that one made the news, the reporting made the comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/38 "2019-02-22T21:41:00Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Just in case it’s not obvious, that’s a parody, drawn by a cartoonist who made a career out of caricatures… Yes, I got that, thanks. This might be of interest: [Was 'The Andy Griffith Show' Postracial?](https://journalisms.theroot.com/was-the-andy-griffith-show-postracial-1790884245) ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/39 "2019-02-22T23:54:18Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > I randomly looked at the 1947 edition and was not at all surprised (but still saddened) by the Oregon section. ‘Safe’ places here were nearly non-existent. It’s not surprising, considering the original Oregon state constitution banned black people from the state entirely. > **[Black Exclusion Laws in Oregon](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/exclusion_laws/)** > > Oregon's racial makeup has been shaped by three Black exclusion laws that were in place during much of the region's early history. These laws, all later rescin… ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349/40 "2019-02-23T05:42:27Z")
I checked out copies from the 40s and the 60s and looked up Ohio. There was not a single listing for Cleveland’s West Side in the book. Nothing below E. 40th st, even. I’ve always known that the west side was more white but damn, seems like it’s always been historically un-welcoming to blacks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-negro-motorist-green-book-1936-1967/829349.md?page=3)