For $50,000, Harvard buys a Green Book, a Jim Crow-era travel guide that lists local businesses safe for Black motorists
Near the mid-20th century, tucked away in the glove compartments of Black American travelers, lived a pocket-sized, green-tinged book.
“Carry your Green Book with you — You may need it,” its cover warned.
Its readers gladly heeded the warning, allowing Victor Hugo Green’s “The Negro Motorist Green Book” to guide them to businesses where they would be accepted regardless of their skin color.
In March, for the first time in its history, Harvard University’s Houghton Library acquired a rare 1949 Green Book for $50,000, providing researchers, students, and visitors alike with a lens into how Black American travelers navigated a segregated landscape under Jim Crow. The travel guide, which was Green’s first international edition, suggests a wide range of hair salons, pharmacies, restaurants, and other businesses across the United States, Bermuda, Mexico, and Canada. About 100 businesses were in Massachusetts, with three still open in Boston.
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