The guide book that helped black Americans travel during segregation

[WhiskeyWulf]

Found this on Open Culture:

http://www.openculture.com/2018/11/download-digitized-copies-negro-travelers-green-book-pre-civil-rights-guide-traveling-safely-u-s-1936-66.html

[unc70]

1. The movie Green Book opens in theaters Nov 20

I've only send the trailer. Looks interesting.

[WhiskeyWulf]

3. Thanks for mentioning that.

I didn't know!

[tymorial]

2. Some show I watched recently did a story about this. Ugh I cant remember what it was

Mysteries of The Museum maybe? It was fascinating and terrible that it was required. The fear black men and women must have felt knowing they were driving through areas with sundown laws.

[WhiskeyWulf]

4. I can't even imagine. :( nt

[unc70]

5. A lot of the sundown towns were in the North and Midwest

While Jim Crow was more blatant in the South, sundown towns were not as common there as they were elsewhere. There was a really interesting book that detailed this. James Loewens "Sundown Towns"

[WhiskeyWulf]

6. I should check that out. Thanks for mentioning it! nt

[Brother Buzz]

10. Route 66 was essentially one long sundown town

44 of the 89 counties along Route 66 were 'sundown towns'.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38370631

[tymorial]

11. Yes, I recall that from the episode/segment (its killing me that I cant remember it)

I recall that Illinois had the most and some even had laws into the 80s and 90s. In my neck of the woods here in New England, Connecticut had the most along with Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Massachusetts had about a dozen and RI had two. Massachusetts has always been a racist state even if the current inhabitants try to promote otherwise.

[enid602]

7. Guide

If Mr Green is still alive , maybe he might be good enough to write a guide for voting in Georgia.

[WhiskeyWulf]

8. Ha!! nt

[eleny]

9. Thanks for posting this link

And also for introducing me to Open Culture. Sites like this and Shorpy are treasures.

[WhiskeyWulf]

12. Thank you, too! I didn't know about Shorpy! nt

[eleny]

13. Put on a big of of coffee!

You're in for a treat.

[nuxvomica]

14. My dad conducted a troop train in WWII

He was in the Army and that was his service because he had a lot of railroad experience working at the D&H. I think the train went from Shreveport to Fort Dix. When he was dying, he told me the story of how they stopped in a Southern town for dinner and the black soldiers were refused service, and my dad argued with a restaurant owner who finally said that they could eat in the kitchen. Upon inspection, he decided that the kitchen was inappropriate, as it was filthy, the walls splattered with chicken blood and guts. He told the owner that these men had just returned from the battlefields of Europe, that they were fighting for him and he owed them more respect, or at least a meal served in a clean place. One of the black soldiers interceded, assuring my dad that they knew a part of town where they could get a meal, and they promised to get back to the train on time. My dad okayed it even though it violated the rules and he gave them their meal vouchers, which they refused. "Those are no good where we're going," the soldier said.

I wish I knew more details but I got a sense my dad was ashamed of that story, that he failed to get his soldiers the right treatment, and he had never mentioned it until he was dying of cancer. I wonder if those soldiers had The Green Book.

[WhiskeyWulf]

15. It's horrifying that even returning soldiers would have been turned away. nt

[GulfCoast66]

16. Many establishments in the South welcomed German POWs

Who were brought to town for a meal and a few drinks. Getting captured by Americans and shipped to the US for internment and doing farm work they were used to was the best fate a German Soldier could hope for.

Black American Soldiers, not so much.

[WhiskeyWulf]

17. Ugh. nt