The real ‘Green Book’ is in Hagley’s collection

The Academy Awards’ selection of “Green Book” for Best Picture has been more than a little controversial. One thing most can agree on, though, is that the actual Green Book, more formally known as “The Negro Motorist Green-Book: A Classified Motorist’s & Tourist’s Guide Covering the United States,” is an important piece of 20th century history.

Few original copies of the guide, which was published from 1936 through 1966 by New Jersey postal worker Victor Green, are still around, but Wilmington’s Hagley Museum inherited a 1946 copy just last year, when the museum acquired the John Margolies Collection of Travel Ephemera.

Congratulations to the Green Book on winning Best Picture at last night's Academy Awards. Hagley Museum has a 1946 edition in the Margolies collection. For more info on the creator, visit https://t.co/QuZcjuI8jP #netde #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory #oscars 🎬 pic.twitter.com/SD7WSVuLZy

— Hagley Mus. and Lib. (@hagleymuseum) February 25, 2019

The green book guided Black travelers to hotels, restaurants, barbershops, colleges and newspapers that accepted Black patrons. Delaware’s 1946 listings included Delaware State University (then called State College for Colored Students), the Walnut St. YMCA and a couple of hotels on the 700 block of French street, now the site of the government center.

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As part of Hagley’s expansive archives, you can’t currently go see the book on display — but you can access the whole thing in Hagley’s digital archives.