The Negro Motorist Green Book: African American Tourism in the Jim Crow Era and the Guidebook' s Legacy in the Media

Abstract

My thesis focuses on the travel directories/guides written by/for black people in the twentieth century. It starts by examining the rise of a black middle class and of a black tourism both in the United States and abroad during the Jim Crow period. African Americans needed directories to guide them to black-friendly places that would accommodate them. Some guides will be analyzed to show how these books were not mere lists of hotel addresses, but also included ads for black businesses with the attempt of stimulating consumerism within the African American community. The most important and longest publication was indeed The Negro Motorist Green Book (1936-1966) by Victor H. Green: after examining its history and importance for black Americans, my work will concentrate on its legacy in contemporary media.