Travelers can retrace ‘Green Book’ path with some research

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS and JAY REEVES
February 20, 2019

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The Oscar-nominated interracial road trip movie “Green Book” has spurred interest in the real guidebook that helped black travelers navigate segregated America. With a little research, travelers can find copies of “The Negro Motorist Green Book” online and retrace the route in the movie or develop their own tours of sites that once provided refuge to African-Americans.

The Peter Farrelly film follows an Italian-American bouncer, played by Viggo Mortensen, as he drives a prominent black classical pianist, played by Mahershala Ali, during a 1962 music tour through Jim Crow-era America. To avoid conflict and to protect the pianist, Mortensen’s character uses the Green Book — a guide published from 1936 to 1966 by Harlem postal worker Victor H. Green.

The Green Book offered black travelers tips on places to eat, visit and sleep while on the road. The taverns, hotels and gas stations were often black-owned and were identified via word-of-mouth or through advertisements.

“Carry your Green Book with you,” the book warned readers on its cover. “You may need it!”

Today, curious travelers can find copies of every edition of the Green Book for free at the New York Public Library Digital Collections or purchase replicas from the Camarillo, California-based About Comics publisher. Inside, readers will find listings in almost every state with addresses of places that catered to African American travelers amid of world of “Whites Only” restaurants, hotels and other establishments across the United States.

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