Radio & Podcasts

The Green Book

BBC Radio 4

December 2016

In 1936 Victor H Green, a Harlem postal worker, published the first edition of The Green Book. The guide listed hotels, restaurants, bars and service stations which would serve African Americans and was an attempt, in Victor Green's words, "to give the Negro traveller information that will keep from him running into difficulties and embarrassments." Alvin Hall hits the highway, Green Book in hand, to document a little-known aspect of racial segregation: the challenges—for mid-20th century America's new black middle class—of travelling in their own country. Alvin's journey starts in Tallahassee, Florida, where he was born and raised, takes him through Alabama and Tennessee and concludes in Ferguson, Missouri.

The Green Book – Listen

The story of The Green Book – a travel guide like no other – Read

The Green Book – A Visual Journey – Read