Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. (1956). The Negro Travelers' Green Book: Fall 1956 Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/9c454830-83b9-0132-d56a-58d385a7b928
What is the Green Book?
The Negro Motorist Green Book was a guide for travel and vacations for African Americans, published between 1936 and 1964. The guide served as a valuable tool for finding businesses that specifically catered to African American travelers during most of the Jim Crow era of segregation when it was not always safe for Black travelers to lodge, eat, and gas up while traveling away from home.
While Russellville originally had two listings in the Green Book, the Latimore Tourist Home was the only place listed between Little Rock and Fort Smith from 1948 to 1964. It was first listed in the 1939 edition of the Green Book. The other Home, belonging to Mrs. M. Jackson, was located on Herman Street, but it is no longer standing.
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division of the New York Public Library has an almost complete digital collection of the Green Book editions. The publication was suspended during World War II but otherwise provided an important tool for African American travelers before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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Here are some resources for learning more about Green Book:
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The Overground Railroad
by Candice Taylor (2020)
Driving While Black
by Gretchen Sorin (2020)
The Negro Motorist Green-Book: 1940 Facsimile Edition by Victor H. Green (2016)
