Freedom On Wheels: The Green Book

In the United States, the 1940s was the start of a golden era for road travel. The nation on wheels, they used to say.

But freedom was not available for everyone. Very often, African American travelers faced discrimination. That's what motivated Victor Hugo Green, an African American mailman from Harlem, New York City, to start writing The Negro Motorist Green Book – also known as The Green Book: A guide of businesses that would welcome African American travelers. He got the idea from similar guides written by Jewish tourists.

At the time, racial segregation made road trips extremely complicated for black travelers, especially in the South. Former Texas State Representative, Curtis Graves, remembers when at 21 years old he took two hitchhikers on his way to college. The only way he would be allowed to enter a restaurant with them were if the girls told he was their 'boy' or driver. Never as an equal. 

A very interesting podcast to learn more about the story behind The Green Book, the travel guide that fought discrimination on the road.

The podcast also discusses how Green managed to put together the guide – which he worked on for over 30 years – with the help of other mailmen from all over the country. Later, businesses began to get in touch by their own initiative, and distributors like Standard Oil (today ExxonMobil) saw the economic side of the guide.

Today, The Green Book is a collector's item. One was sold recently for $22,500, but in the 1960s it was worth even more. 

The relevance of Green's compilation has also inspired a new film called Green Book, starring Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen, which has been receiving very good reviews.