A Light In The Darkness

"Against this backdrop of prejudice Victor H Green saw an opportunity, and a need. In the early 19330s Green was employed as a postal carrier in Harlem and as a service for friends collected information on hotels, restaurants, and other businesses in the New York City area that accepted or catered to African Americans. In 1936 he published this information in a small pamphlet entitled The Negro Motorist Green Book.

It proved so popular that for the 1937 edition he expanded coverage to include businesses throughout the United States. In the introduction, Green wrote, “There will be a day sometime in the future when this guide will not have to be published. That is when we as a race will have equal rights and privileges in the United States.”