"These travelers,
whether going places with smiles
or with tears in their eyes,
could face
hassles, humiliations, hardships.
Even bodily harm.
Because Jim Crow - segregation - was
intense in the North, South, East, and West.
Because legions refused to see Black
people's humanity."
What an amazing man to get to know in this fine picture book biography. Victor Hugo Green was a proud and industrious mail carrier who delivered important packages, letters, magazines to the people who lived in Hackensack, New Jersey before he moved on to little Leonia. When he moved across the river to Harlem, he continued delivering mail in New Jersey.
Life in Harlem with its 'world of Black folks' was often happy, despite the pressures of the Great Depression. In Detroit, cars of all types were being produced for highway and turnpike travel. Because of Jim Crow laws, many Black people were encouraged to buy a car in order to make travel easier for them. These people were making trips for vacations, meetings, reunions, even funerals.
Travelers, famous and not so, made mental maps to ensure safety, comfort, and good food. They learned about places to avoid from others whose experiences there were frightening. Victor Hugo Green was distressed by the stories he heard, and unhappy that his people faced such troubles. He began collecting information from friends, newspapers, colleagues. He used that information to create a guide known as the Green Book.
Its first edition was printed in 1936; a pamphlet for the New York City area. Within two years, it was more than 20 pages and cost 25 cents. The list of places that welcomed Black travelers kept expanding. By 1940, it was 48 pages and just kept growing. Soon, it covered train and plane travel in the United States and beyond. After that, Victor had his own travel company, all while continuing to deliver mail.
After retirement in 1953, he made the travel guide his life's work. Always hoping it would no longer be needed, Victor died in 1960, four years before The Civil Rights Act was realized. Victor would have worn his beaming smile in celebration. Rightly so!
The text is poetic, inviting and informative, accompanied by images of families, communities and activities in settings that are telling and full of life. Primary source evidence, included throughout the book adds to the powerful telling. Backmatter includes a timeline, additional information about Green, citation notes, and suggested further resources for young readers.
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