Sarah Hoskins

The Green Book

I was photographing and interviewing Lilla Bentley who was well into her late 80s, back in 2003, we were in her home at her kitchen table looking through her old photos as she told me stories. One of the photos stood out, an image of a group of black musicians pressed and dressed in front of a bus, suitcases and instruments in hand. What was it like for them to travel? How did they manage? Did they suffer emotional pain? Or worse, were they physically harmed while traveling? Her stories and that image have stayed with me, and in many ways played a part in my pursuit of this project. The Places That Were Safe: What Sanctuary Looks Like Now. 

My photographic exploration has been to photograph the present-day locations of sites that were once beacons of light for African Americans traveling around the country during the days of enforced segregation and Jim Crow laws. I have been following The Negro Motorist Green Book, a guidebook first published in 1936 by the New York City mailman Victor Hugo Green to ensure safe travel for African Americans. His guides helped generations navigate their way safely through the Jim Crow era, directing them to everything from beauty parlors to gas stations to motels. Green wrote that his book would not be necessary “when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges.” It ceased publication in 1964.  

The title of each image was how it was listed in the 1956 edition of the Green Book which I primarily use. I am also guided to places from those I meet on the street. 

So far I have been to over two dozen cities in the past two years. 

  • The Southway Hotel          Chicago
  • Suttons  Restaurant       Atlanta
  • DuSable Hotel       Chicago
  • Michael          The Oddfellows Building   Atlanta
  • Breck's Beauty Parlor     Cincinnati
  • The Don Hotel Chicago
  • Haley's Dugstore                         Gary
  • Tomealaya    Joe's Coffee Bar      Atlanta
  • Amoco Service Station                    Cleveland
  • Rashim The Strand Hotel          Chicago
  • The Pelican Resteraunt Detroit
  • The Carlton Hotel                        Detroit
  • Orlando    Pastell Lampkins Tourist Home Milwaukee
  • Johnsons Rooms Milwaukee
  • {quote}My aunt lived in the house behind me, she was a cook. She had a little place here where I am standing that she would sell food.{quote}
  • Drugstore Indianapolis
  • I had been driving around in circles looking for addresses that weren't there. I wasn't having any luck finding any Green Book sites in Youngstown, Ohio. Then I saw an interesting church with cars parked in the lot on a Friday afternoon. I felt a little hopeful, I went over and began to make photos, I saw a tall distinguished man come out of the church carrying a plate, which I learned later was fish. I asked if he would share, he would not. He did however stop and share his stories. He had come to Ohio as a 4 month old baby from Alabama. He went off and served in WW ll and worked in steel. He was 94 years old, the oldest member in his church, he had been married for 74 years and the fish was going home to his wife. I asked about the Green Book sites, {quote}You should have seen it back in the day.{quote} {quote}It's all gone now.{quote}

So many stories and sites now dust and blown away. History buried and all to often bulldozed over so we may never know the riches that were there. On this day, I did not find an old building, with a past. I  found a hero.

I have been to over a dozen cities so far, this is not the easiest of projects. I have found way too many empty lots, entire neighborhoods gone in the name of “urban renewal” when I believe the term is more in the lines of redlining.
How far have we truly come, and what remains of the past we tell ourselves as a nation that we have left behind?
  • Bukin Dry Cleaners Gary
  • There were too many places to name here, they were all bulldozed.
  • Wheatly Hotel Cleveland
  • Francine's Beauty Parlor Hazelton
  • Martin's Tavern New Orleans
  • After two years of photographing on this project in December 2018 I visited Dooky Chase. The only place I have found so far that is still operating under the same name and owners. Here is Leah Chase 96 years old looking at the name of her place in the Green Book. Amazing lady!
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