>> even as a child, use a very lovely man. have a blackl to client working with a white printer. dad found, what was the first place he could stay between new orleans and the end of the drive that first day. the next day, we drove all the way to miami and stayed at the lord calvert hotel, which was also listed in the green book. >> of those station had these

books in the rack outside the pump. , found crosby's motel in pensacola, florida. my parents owned the first fully accredited african-american owned travel agency in the united states. they were able to convince people over time. it took many groups and eventually thousands of people. between the fighting, the dogs, the people that had died for the right for us to stay anywhere. ♪ [applause] is my pleasure to

introduce calvin ramsey. an author, photographer, and playwright whose works has been shown around the country, showing the light on missing pages of african-american history. his plays bring the audience closer to truth. ,is first play the green book had its premiere. it then one recognition as a finalist in the last frontier contest in alaska where it was critiqued by playwrights and directors. the success was well above other critically acclaimed work, of theng his exploration career of an african-american actor and civil rights activist. he has been on the collection of thelibrary in atlanta and theater panel. he is the recipient of the

martin luther king junior drum major for justice award. help me in welcoming calvin ramsey to the stage. [applause] mr. ramsey: good afternoon. i'm glad to see you all out tonight. person, a transplant, in new york city. i've been here 2.5 years. i live across from yankee stadium. i love being in new york. part of my reason for coming to new york was the cousin of victor green. victor hugo green. the mailman who started the green book. how many of you have relatives or grandparents that were born in another country? .k you have a migration story as well. in the african-american community, we had over 6 million

1970 that got to on the road to look for a better life for themselves and their family. they call it the great migration. lawrence did a whole panel exhibit on this that was here last summer. i had the good fortune of being able to go in there and film all the panels. with the green book was about, is about, is about traveling with dignity. eating on the road, being able to stop, eat, use the restroom. it feels safe. without threats of violence or death. victor green, who had a seventh grade education, who lived in harlem, who worked in hackensack new jersey as a letter carrier, he started working in 1913.

in 1918 he was married to a woman from richmond, virginia. they moved back to harlem, 938 saint nicholas avenue. 28 years later he started the green book. he would take alma home during the summer to visit her family in virginia. that is when he ran into difficulties on the open road. friendgreen had a jewish who told them about their troubles traveling. he said they have their own travel book. victor green got the idea from his friend. he started the green book. he cannot do it alone. resources. little he was a full-time letter carrier. what he had was an army of letter carriers across the united states. mostly african-american men. they would go out, get addresses, places of business, places where people could

frequent while they were on the open road. those things into him. that is how the green book started. from that point on, it grew. the first year, it was just new york. parts of theer country, there was jim crow in new york. after new york, he was able to expand it to other parts of the country. he kept the book of from 1936 to 1964. his dream was to one day go out of business. he wanted to have it so that african-americans would have accommodations on the open road. he did not live to see that. his wife kept it going for four more years. he retired from the postal service in 1952. he worked on the green book full-time. when he started doing the green book, when he started the postal

service in 1913 he was able to join a union, the national association of letter carriers, .hich was a white union somehow or another, he got into the union in hackensack. members could not use to give him information. in 1913 a group of on lookoutrican men mountain, tennessee, mostly railway mail clerks, one of them was john wesley dobbs, a mason and the grandfather of the first mayor of atlanta, maine r theson, who in 1913 visit -- in 1930 this union started. this was his force. these were his pied piper's. .- pied pipers

just like today, your mail carrier probably knows more about you than anyone else in the neighborhood. he knows who is in trouble and who might be giving you trouble. most of these guys knew that and new to ask about that. african-american women played a major role. back then, most of the men were working and they were homemakers. the mailman would ask them, with a mind being in the book. you will see the addresses were always misses so-and-so, never mr. lewis, mr. brown, or anything like that. the women took this upon themselves to make sure that these listings were listed. they were called tourist homes. most of these small towns did not have negro motels. some of them were not suitable for families. they were for railroad workers, traveling salesman, and single

guys. they were not suitable for families. the tourist homes were regular homes. there were no phone numbers, you just pull up and knock on the door, say we are traveling and need a place to stay. some folks would charge a little, some folks would not charge anything. most who would leave money under their pillow or on the dresser to show gratitude. mr. green had the good fortune withming into contact billboard jackson, who was an educated black man who worked in the commerce department under hoover. pro-business, all about black business. he was a mover and a shaker. marsalis inelton new orleans. his father had a 10-room motel, service station, and taxicab

stand. -- theician apart musician part of his family comes from his mother's side. his father was a business guy. he thought so much of billboard jackson that he named his petrol station after billboard. he got black men trained to run these stations all over the united states. these are advertised in the green book. a lot of folks would ask, why ownedrockefeller, it was by standard oil, owned by john d rockefeller senior, why would john d rockefeller get involved with a program like this who is trying to corner the black market and travel, or did he have other reasons? most point to rockefeller's wife laura. she was originally from massachusetts, but they had migrated to ohio. minister ands a

their home was part of the underground rail wrote. -- underground railroad. the family's last name was spellman. i guess you've heard of the school in atlanta? was named after rockefeller's wife's family. on that campus you will see a photograph, a painting, of minister spellman, his wife, and the church is called sister travel. i thought it was because of all the sisters on campus. it is called sister chapel because of laura lucy spellman. 95% of the businesses in the black owned.re i think that we have another clip to show of some of my

interviews from the film. >> where you from? >> i am from new york city, manhattan. i parents lived in new harlem when i was born. was one i moved to queens, i grew up in queens. >> your parents met -- >> they met in kansas where my mother lived and grew up. during world war ii, my father was stationed there. that is where they met. -- he waswent back sent to europe, france i think. when the war was over, they got married and moved to new york. that is where i was born. >> in a woman's hospital?

isa woman's hospital which no longer there. it was near columbia university in 116th and broadway. southr family would go for holidays and summer vacations? weddings and funerals? >> we would go south to to three times a year. ofsouth ford 2 to 3 times year. mostly for holidays. we would visit my mother's family in kansas. this was before interstate highways. >> two lane blacktop. >> we had to go through the mountains of west virginia. >> what about food? your mother would spend a lot of time cooking? >> we would take a shoebox of fried chicken. she would make potato salad, that would go bad really quickly. we would have to eat that first.

she would definitely cook. >> sweet potato pie? not a great cook. the on the way back, my grandmother would pack us up. we would not give from salisbury to greensboro before we were in the pies. >> when did you first become aware that accommodations on the road were not open to your family? >> i feel like i always knew. ,y father used to take me sometimes, before my sister was born -- she is three years gender than me. i always knew that we cannot stay places or eat places. -- i guess myer mother packing the lunch. wasaveled from the time i 2, i can remember from 2 on. >> and bathroom stops --

they say, this is what you say. yes, ma'am. you can't go in the bathroom. don't do anything accidentally. i was prepped. when we got south of d.c., the rules changed. >> you remember your father using the green book? >> to find places to eat. find the black section of town. use the green book to find places to eat. --n we would travel the travel beyond -- my parents liked to travel here they thought it was helpful for our education. at one time we took the trip from new york cross-country to california, then down to mexico to al capone club -- two al capone go -- attack of poker mexico -- that theyhe year

passed the civil rights act. 1964. i think that they passed that in july. i remember staying in those boarding houses. at one place that we stayed in florida, the owner begged my father to stand a hotel, a regular hotel, because they had fights. he described the fighting, dogs set on them, the people that died. that whole trip was a trip. we were the first blacks to go into the white hotels. in texas, people got up and left, the dining room went quiet . it was an emotional thing. >> especially for young child. >> when the man was pleading with your father to stay in one of the hotels, your father

resisted? >> my father was resentful that he could not stay in those hotels, and he was adamant that he would continue to support african americans, or at that time, negro establishments. not want mey did then, i will not go there now. i will not patronize them. after the guy sat him down and told him the specific sacrifices that he had made that she was an i'mr gentleman -- he said begging you. you have the money, go visit. of the trip, we stayed in regular hotels. >> that is emotional. you remember the first time you went into a regular hotel/motel. you are small? -- you were small? >> our experience in mexico was different.

we were welcomed. guy.ther was a chatty he ran into a man who let him stay in his penthouse. a great experience in mexico. a wonderful time. the mexicans were talking about americans, european americans, how they get drunk and had that manners. come across the border in texas, this i remember across theming border in texas, we stopped at a hotel am a went into a dining room. ,y mother had us dressed up breaking our absolute best. into the dining room and it was silence. it was a big room. silence. everyone stopped talking and turned to look at us. it was terrifying. not smiling, scowling.

some people got up and walked out of the dining room. my parents and i, we sat down, they ordered food, and we ate. but, it was not a fun memory. it was very scary and uncomfortable. >> you mentioned one time driving in north carolina. the sheriff car passed you by, turned around? >> i remember another incident where we were going to visit my father's family in north carolina. my grandmother, his uncle, before the interstate highways. there were two lane blacktop highways. it was at night. we were driving down the highway, because it would take longer than now to get there. you had to go through the mountains in west virginia. we were driving, the sheriff was coming toward us in the opposite

direction. as we drive past he makes a swift u-turn. my father had a new buick with a new york license plate and was very conscious of the new york plate. in the small towns, they know everyone. when you come into the city limits, they know you are there. he made a quick u-turn, gunned the motor to out run them. we were afraid that if they stopped us, they would kill him or harm us. we were flying. my mother was hysterical that he was going to out run the police. he did. he drove really fast and turned off his lights. took a side road very quickly, and drove down. we sat under a tree until the sun came up. he saw their lights go past

back-and-forth. they cannot figure out where he was. it was really frightening. >> what year? >> i was really young. the 1950's.n i must have been -- my sister was three- maybe she or four. i was maybe 7. i am 56. that was a while ago. >> did you go to sleep there? >> sleep? no way. >> wow. then you got back on the road. >> then he creeped out after many hours that their lights started going back-and-forth. we creeped out. travelingther kept into the future. he never stopped traveling? he was a brave guy.

did you ever say, we don't want to go? >> we never said that. person like he was a with stature and rates. wasad to manage, but -- he a citizen. exactly. the system was wrong, not him. >> wow. what was his name? >> richard. my mother was betty. my mother is 90 something years old. she is alive. she is in florida. they retired to florida or chi retired tove here -- florida. she does not live here. [applause]

mr. ramsey: that is paula. i did not know paula. i was in harlem and this was on edgecomb avenue in the sugar hill section. i was with the gentleman in the military who used the green book traveling across the country. paula was just sitting on the bench. she asked what we were doing. husband engendered we were filming people for the green book. she said my parents had a green book. that is how we got paula. all theseidea she had stories. we have another clip of her that is very dramatic. but we get a chance to show it. how many of you have the green book, heard of the green book, or family members on the green book?

had you heard of the green book before now? i went to an auction last april at this one gallery. book sold for $25,000. it is now a rare book. size of the magazine, six by nine. when you got a copy come you kept it forever. some people would make copies of copies, like they would now with tapes and cds. 15,020 5000nt books a year. he was a full-time mail carrier. he had to go to hackensack every day. when he was advertising, he moved his operation out of his home into his office on west 35th street right above small's

paradise. musicthe famous establishment. he was there for many years. was thishall from him postal unit that started in tennessee. they were room 208 and he was to 215a.- he was that was his energy. they kept the book going after the civil rights books were passed. people wanted to stay where they felt comfortable. there was pushed back in the beginning. people did not automatically open the doors to businesses. victor green was a guy who felt something needed to be done. he did it very quietly. when he passed away he fell through the cracks of history. i had never heard of the green

book, even though i am old enough to remember. i remember seeing the water fountains and signs. i was in atlanta talking to a second grade class. i mentioned i was old enough to remember that. a little girl asked me if i had ever seen a dinosaur. [laughter] mr. ramsey: i told her that i was not quite that old. the books are there. it fell through history. i've never heard of the green book. i'm going to go back a little ways to the 1970's. i moved to california. i was going to write screenplays . i was taking courses at ucla. i was there for a couple of years. it was not working out for me.

i was having a lot of fun, but nothing was working out. i parents say, maybe you should come back. i did not go to north carolina, where i grew up. i was born in baltimore and grew up in north carolina. i flew to st. croix where i lived for a couple of years, then the virgin islands, then went back south to get married. in california, i met people. i met a black guy name jonathan and his best friend tony him and jonathan sister, patricia. if you fast forward 30 years, i am in home depot to buy a lawnmower for my youngest son so he can start cutting the grass. i guy walks up behind me and says you look like calvin ramsey . i turn around and it is tony, one of the guys from l.a. house, iome by the

married patricia and we have eight children. a year later, little tony is killed in a car accident. a flat tire,g, got stopped on the side of the road, and the police stopped to help him. someone ran over the police officer and little tony. little tony is killed and the police officer has his legs broken. to have his funeral, i'm in the backyard. little tony'sher, grandfather, comes down from new york. his first time in the deep south, in 2001. said, i was looking for a green book. he thought he still needed one in 2001. i said, what is a green book? he started explaining what it was. i went to emory university and they did not have any copies.

i went to morehouse, they had 2 copies. i made copies of copies. that is how the green book fell on me. i wrote a play, then a children's book. i think there's a lady here who has my children's book. can you hold it up? in the dedication page, i dedicated the book to little tony -- the young man that was killed. this is the story of an eight -year-old little girl named ruth. she travels from chicago to soma to see her grandmother. on the dedication page i dedicated the book to little tony. it tells what she goes through on this trip. she knows nothing about her color being an issue until they

make the first stop and her parents give her the talk. if you are more certain age and you are a black person are. ruth gets this talk. her whole life changes. she grows from this. she grows from this. they see itto kids, as a fairness issue. ruth is not being treated fairly. that is how it affects them. then we talk about other forms of discrimination. identity,out sexual religion, body shape, learning ability, physical ability because discrimination is not just color. his other things as well. that is what we talk about with the kids using the book.

i think we have another little clip on palmer that i would like you to see. i think it is pretty dramatic and you might get something out of it. >> we've got three more minutes. traveling to kansas took several days. it was grueling because you cannot really stop anywhere except the rooming houses.

book --er on the green ever member one occasion where i got sick. i had a temperature. my parents were trying -- and i remember they were trying to find a place to stay. -- two or were really three hours from the nearest place. we had to go always back to st. louis or something. i was really sick. motel's thet to beg if wedy and could drive around the back and see we can stay in the back because i was sick. i think you folks might of had that. trying to figure out what they were going to do. should we do this or should we do that? we were better off just trying

to keep going in the direction we were going. motel wouldno take it? >> the guy said he can't. he said there is nobody here. he said if they find out, i will never -- mr. ramsey: never have customers again. >> yes. finally he went in crying. which for him was please, my daughter is sick. mr. ramsey: and that did not work? >> my parents just drove straight through it me sick, alternating with my mother driving and my father driving. i remember it. begging withing, me in his arms. please, my daughter is sick. mr. ramsey: wow. back to st. louis or the nearest town. >> they went straight through to kansas. mr. ramsey: that is incredible.

>> my sister was not born. i was like two. i remember that. that really made an impression. even though -- when you get out that far places were not that close together. mr. ramsey: and he got information. he was a male man himself. -- mailman himself. he was right around the corner. where the small paradise was located and where the i hop is. that is where his office was. hackensack as a mailman and he retired. >> everybody used this book. >> [indiscernible]

he gives you a little different flavor about it was like on the open road as far as children traveling with parents. it was not always pleasant. it was not always comfortable. area of solso an many cities and counties called sundown towns. you are not supposed to be there after sundown. totor green made it clear avoid those at all risks. i think that is what they ran into the night her father our in the local sheriffs. they were in a sundown town. they got caught after sundown. you are automatically in all kinds of violations. -- i woulde to ask

like you to ask me some questions now if you have some. yes sir? hi. what do you say today to the so-called african-americans about economics and where they spend their dollars? thank you. mr. ramsey: one of the bad things about the movement was at one time there were a lot of businesses. the green book was 95% african-american owned and controlled businesses that provided the service. integration those businesses no longer existed because the customers went elsewhere. i was watching a documentary last night on the negro baseball. buck o'neil, one of the managers of the monarchs, he was talking about how great negro baseball was. even though they were glad

jackie robinson got in, after he got in where these to draw 40,000 people per game it got to a point where it was down to maybe 5000 or 6000 and less than that. only the not exist after that. buck o'neil felt like it was needed and it was an opportunity. folks fought for it. it was all about inclusion so he felt like it was still a good thing. >> a two-part question. to the families and businesses listed in these books feel like they were any kind of danger for being in this book? whether other people in the towns where their homes or businesses that would persecute them for listing in this book? those know of any of kinds of circumstances that occurred? mr. ramsey: the green book was unlike the underground railroad. it was out in the open and it was kind of like keeping things

separate and equal. it was in sync with the law of the land. this is what people wanted. they wanted people not to come to their places. people were not in any kind of harm's way by being in the green book. extendedr carriers themselves. it was not part of the job description to get people to do something like this. i think they were in the most difficult position. yes? i just have a quick question. how did people get their copies of the green book? the letter carriers mail them? how are they able to get their copies? mr. ramsey: before eso got involved the prince hall mason, a lot of these guys were masons, and the pullman porters had the

mother trains in the urban league had another centers. it was getting out there. they were getting out there. research.ou for your questionshave three but i will make them quick. wasn't information about mexico? -- was there information about mexico? was there information about sundown towns? which region sold the most green books? mr. ramsey: the northeast have the most of the listings. what happened after world war ii a lot of the american soldiers were studying abroad, living in different places. the white soldiers. in some places for they did not have a lot of jim crow issues

the americans were importing jim crow to new regions, like in the caribbean. parts of canada. they got to a point where victor that had to list places ordinarily or beforehand it was not an issue. after the american gis starting going to these places saying we don't associate with these people back home, i talked to folks who are from jamaica. they said they got to a point where some of the larger hotels would ask them not to do that. that was something that was imported. victor green opened up the caribbean. he did things in bermuda. then he had his own little travel guide as well. tourism. he really kind of expanded on the green book. >> he wants to know where we can

see your entire film, and i also wanted to know how to define people to interview for your film? mr. ramsey: hopefully it will be ready by early april. -- i used to live in atlanta. i had a play that was running down there. after the play i would be in the lobby signing the children's books. people would walk up and just tell me things about their own experiences, about if they had a green book or not. i did the plate and d.c., a reading. just a staged reading. julian barnes played mr. green. he thought his father having a green book. after we did a talk after the play was over ernie green stood up, one of the little rock nine,

he said his family had a green book and they use it for little rock, arkansas to go to virginia when his sister graduated from hampton institute. it just kind of comes up. i did know paula. -- i did not know paula. they still had trouble stories. all the stories don't have to be green book stories but i still wanted to have trouble stories in the documentary. usually word-of-mouth. i met the green family who lived here in harlem. some of them still. one lady is ramona green. she remembered victor. he came to her wedding and they lost contact. they heard about me doing this children's book and they were glad about it but they went about their separate lives and left it alone. now they are candid getting a little more excited about with victor achieves and being a part of their family.

back here? >> get evening. i'm a doctoral student at st. john's university. i'm curious to find of the institutions of higher education espousinghosting and blacks from the north as we traveled throughout the south. wasramsey: my father-in-law a doctor in mason, georgia. he went to morehouse. traveling, he and his wife, they would stay at black colleges. the dormitories. they were open, especially in the summer when the students were not there. they service hotels for a lot of people -- they served as hotels for a lot of people traveling. especially if you are connected with the school in any kind of way or if you had friends there. anse schools were really

oasis for travelers. atlanta.couple in this gentleman was a jewish settlement but he is gone to harvard, but he was teaching -- for many, many years. when he heard about the green book he was taken back. he said we had all these at accomplishments and we would have these meetings and folks would come in but no one ever talked about how they got there and what the problems that they ran into. he felt a little hurt no one confided in him about what the travel situation was. people andi talk to they say i never thought about that. how did black people get from here to there during the jim crow years. how did that work? they say it's pretty amazing and

also pretty sad. i talked to a gentleman from georgia tech. his family was out of ohio. he was born in california. he was about 12 years of age. his father was dead tired. he went to a black hotel and he wanted to spend the night. the black proprietor told him i'm sorry, you cannot stay here. it is against the law. this was a little white kid. the black guy had to follow the same rules. he was saying i can we stay here either. the little boy never forgot that. he was telling me that story. he's a professor at georgia tech and he started crying. i get a lot of that. folks telling me stories. some people wished they had not even brought the subject up. the great bass player ray brown who was married to ella fitzgerald at one time, he said

he'll will be got alzheimer's that will erase all the travel problems he had on the road. if you got that kind, he would be glad to have it. thanks. to a jackie robinson was signed by the dodgers, they did your spring training in cuba because they were for the racist. i heard theis catholics used to have a lot of trouble in the south. priesty also, like if a was traveling from here to there, did they also use the green book? mr. ramsey: white catholics are black catholics? [laughter] just catholics period? i don't know. i think the color kind of trumped everything. no matter what you were, if you were black, you were just in trouble. in one school a little indian if i was me,

traveling, what i -- what would i be? with a let me say? probably not. he was kind of concerned about that. it was there. if you're a certain age when traveling, even now when i'm driving and among the interstate if i see a place that is not a name brand rest area, i don't really pull in. it was just a little independent spot i just keep on going until i find something with a little bit more appeal. it's kind of ingrained and you, like a memory. you can't really get rid of it. i was a little late sway apologize if you already said this. was there one book nationally or the regional ones? have often with mr. green update

them? yearly, and it was done by states. cities and states in alphabetical order. utah, you name it. if it was a state, he had a listing. he had a letter carrier somewhere. these mailmen were good about sending him information. he got it and he got it out way before the internet and all this other stuff. he was producing this publication. i think there is a question here. somewhere in the back. >> when you started out tonight you asked us if we had immigrants in our family. when my great, great grandparents came from germany they came and were given guidelines on how to behave. were things like that in the book as well? mr. ramsey: yes.

like paula mentioned her family was probably some of the first of these restaurants. they wanted to make sure they had the proper table etiquette, manners and things of that nature. that is mostly what they called home training back in my time. day, the first one that integrated these places in the black community was the educated class. it was the ones that had gone to college and who were professional people. they were the first ones that went and to these places -- in to these places. you hear the stories all the time. wouldme the restaurants ask for a black professional family to come in. from the community. they wanted that person with a group to be the first so they could set a good example.

schoolsalked to kids in i talk about their family history. if their families were from ireland, they settled in hells kitchen. if they were from the caribbean, they were in harlem or brooklyn. they were italian, maybe the bronx. side, jewish. that was they are kind of green book. usually the first one that settled send it back to others. places to stay, places of worship, places to get medical services. that is what the southern blacks did by coming north and going west. the caribbean blacks i have spoken with, mostly from jamaica and other places, they got here. somebody in the family was working on the panama canal. from the panama canal they had entry to the united states. that was like their own green book migration story. we all have got some kind of

story matter where you're from. we are here in our children and grandchildren may be somewhere else. so the migration continues. it never ends. there was some kind of map. the green book really was a map to get you there. once you got there you had to have another map. you had have a family connection. african americans who were traveling were going back and forth. some came north and got good jobs in factories and unions and things of that nature if they had not gone to school. they would go back for weddings and funerals. they would talk to the ones that stay. some blacks stayed in these areas. it was a lot of movement. was there another? thank you for being here

tonight and for keeping this whole story alive. i wanted to share. i first found out of of the green book very recently because the new york public library scan it and put it online. you can look at the nypl labs and look through a number of different green books. mr. ramsey: i think they're assuming over here. i think we will show some brooklyn listings in the green book. was there another question? >> excuse me, sir. mr. ramsey: the year the dodgers trained in havana, they stayed at the hotel nacional. royals were the farm team that had a black players. they stayed elsewhere. the black players were segregated and state at a

boarding house in downtown havana. the jim crow laws were brought by the americans into cuba. mr. ramsey: exactly. i think some of the caribbean players were not quite accustomed to that. and clemente tion, with pittsburgh, they ran into that as well. i met a sports writer of years ago who writes here in new york. his family is from jacksonville, florida. this is before the yankees moved further south. they use to have spring training in jacksonville. every year he had to get his desk get his room up to the catcher from the yankees. he asked me to write a children's book about that. howard's wifeto and daughter. they kind of wanted to do it themselves. can you imagine that?

every year epson howard would come to your house and stay in your room. that's pretty incredible. the yankees uniform, and he had a picture of it. that was a bad thing but a good thing too. mentioned the sundown towns. there was a book i read called "sundown towns" that was interesting. a lot of the communities were in the north, not down in the south. ohio, pennsylvania. even southern california, los angeles. they were still considered sundown towns. it was not only in the south that these towns -- what he shows through his research is even into the 1980's they were still several areas that would not allow people of color, jewish, etc. into their communities. the 1960's and

into the late 1970's we did not see one black face during that time, several walking with their bag to clean the house during the day. that is how i grew up. not five or six miles down the road in brooklyn it was very restrictive. nobody was allowed in there if you were not white. it was noticed. being a little white kid in new york, when i came into the city or downtown brooklyn. i asked my mother, why is it so different we are? he says it is just the way it is. agore not talking very long up here in brooklyn, new york. mr. ramsey: martha's vineyard, they have a section called inkwell. go, is where all the blacks especially during the jim crow years. this was in massachusetts.

there are blacks that can go all over the island to different beaches but they still go there. it's good enough for my grandparents, my elders. this is home. you might go there and see anybody out there. spike lee. this is their turf. some of the older folks don't like that name, the inkwell. but this is where you find the people. was there someone else? ok. >> hi. i was wondering if this book is mostly used for people looking to travel or for people in their own cities? travelers: it was for because in their own city they knew the nightclubs in the restaurants and the cleaners in the barbershops. the traveler, he didn't know anything about this.

the family traveling by car. the buses back then, even those -- even though the supreme court have these rulings, there were all these states rights issues when they made their own rules. you cannot really do very much. people did not like riding the bus very much because of sitting in the back. the bus depot, where to eat, where these the bathroom. once they became more fluent and mobile and started buying cars and they wanted to have ownership, they started driving. that presented a whole another set of problems. i think that is what victor green was trying to deliver -- eliminate. humiliation and uncertainty. when you plan a trip with kids in the car you do not know where you're going to stay, eat, stop. that is pretty frightening. in the green book it eliminated a lot of that. not all of it, but it took a

little edge off. i was the green book reproduced? was a printing press used and if so, who owned it? mr. ramsey: victor green owned it. it was his company. i had a quick earlier and there was a jewish gentleman whose father printed the green book. he remembered victor green coming to the shop to present the job. there were some people in the printing business or in the printing shop who did not want to print victor green's book. fatherm and said his owned the business and he told the guys this is my business, you are going to do the job. victor owned it. it was his copyright. all the books are online now. you can print your own green book off.

the new york public library has all the books digitized. just go and print it and you have your own copy. i think she had a question. >> for african-americans who do not have family in new york who were coming to new york to stay, how difficult was it during 1939? mr. ramsey: if they were traveling by car, it was very difficult. i'm sure they slept in their car, eight in their car, everything in the car. when to the bathroom in the woods. once they got to new york in if they had family, they would stay with her family. i rather people staying at our house and we lived in baltimore. there was a role the lake -- rollaway cot. you had unfold it. you had people everywhere. on the floor. but that was all you knew as a

kid. it was kind of exciting. that is how it was. it was like urban camping. but here are some listings of new york. some of these are brooklyn. you have niagara falls, rochester, poughkeepsie. shops,-- elmyra, beauty dance halls. a little bit of everything. here is a better way to look at it. brooklyn. the tourist homes, that's just a regular house. e. bryan. it was the lady, the woman. they really took control over

this green book enterprise. they really wanted to make sure travelers had someplace to go. a lot of folks looking back at this time think it was all gloom and doom. it really was a sharing of love. it wasn't all bad. it was really good. he was laughter and celebrations. he was meeting new friends, hearing stories. it was more good times than bad times. they made a way out of no way. kids are missing that love of one another and being able to love somebody you don't even know or a stranger. friendship. things of that nature that were just out there. -- you tell young folks today that people would

just open their homes up to someone traveling. they can't really imagine it. this is proof it went on and on. four years. -- for years. sally horn. you are traveling, you are in harms way. hmm? >> [indiscernible] mr. ramsey: i'm not sure what those numbers are. they might be military time. >> [indiscernible] ok.ramsey: >> [indiscernible] carver federal savings and loan association. queens, brooklyn, bronx. this is pretty amazing to compile all of this and get it

out there. twoe have time for about more questions. >> what was the charge for the book? with a free? mr. ramsey: anywhere from $.25 to $1.25. i think a few years during world war ii there were no books printed at all. victor died in 1960. his wife kept it going for four more years. >> we have time for one more question. >> do you see the need now for the green book or is there a need now for the green book? it's funny. the gay community for a while have their own network of places to stay.

that was kind of like a travel, where they felt safe. that was like their green book. ladyw there was one black in d.c. she is kind of connected. a lot of african american people who owned their own bed-and-breakfasts. people that wanted to support businesses . it is a niche market. now it is out of -- there's nothing wrong with it. just being --bout this was like life-saving and all kinds of things. now it is like a luxury if you want to set a black bed-and-breakfast in brooklyn or florida or chicago. it is nice. nothing wrong with it at all and they do exist. there is a network out there for that.

maybe one more. [laughter] mr. ramsey: ok. >> i'm curious about hotels in new york. by parents stated the algonquin. it was one of the few that allowed black people. mr. ramsey: i think it is different. i where a interviewed -- interviewed paula. her building at one time there would be the boys staying there and walter white from the naacp. thurgood marshall stay there. judge bruce wright stay there one time in that building. further up is a building called 555. -- he couldn't stay downtown. he had to stay back up in harlem. he did not that he could play downtown but not stay downtown.

what years were your parents staying there? >> they got married in 1954. happens.y: i guess it i read this article not too long ago that her bellefonte -- herb ellenfonte bought the building and sold the penthouse to leno worn. -- lena horn. >> do you know the websites for the green book so people can keep up-to-date? calvimsey: my website is nalexanderramseysernior.com. the green book chronicles, you can go there. if you have a child in your life, think about getting ruth in the green book. i have a lot of adults getting the book.

it's on amazon. floyd cooper is my illustrator. he is a legend in the world of children illustration. he won the carreras got king --rd four times -- cro award.a scott king the green book chronicles. we hope to have it out as soon as we can. i thank you all for coming out and appreciate it. [applause] >> thank you. [applause] [crowd noise] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] c-span3 weekend on feature programs that tell the

american story. some of the highlights for this weekend include this evening at 8:00 on lectures in history. dickinson college professor david o'connell discusses presidential legacies and the factors that contribute to a successful presidential term. at 10:00 p.m. on real america, in september of 1963, two months before his death, president kennedy traveled across the u.s. to support conservation of natural resources for future generations. sunday morning at 10:00 on road to the white house rewind, a 1984 democratic debate in atlanta including former vice president walter mondale, senators gary hart of colorado and john glenn of ohio, former presidential nominee george mcgovern, and reverend jesse jackson. for the complete american history tv we can schedule, go to c-span.org. all week in american history tv is featuring alabama's

capital city of montgomery. named after revolutionary war general richard montgomery. city'ss city store -- tour staff visited the hitting -- city to learn its history. >> if you think about the timeline of the modern-day civil rights movement, the beginning of that move it being 1954 brown versus the board of education. the apex of the silver is vivid being the assassination of dr. king. it's right in the middle of that history. we are the halfway point for both of those events. what happened on the streets of montgomery really became a turning point for the movement. rides were civil rights campaign to challenge the segregated laws of interstate travel across the south. they began on may 4, 1961 with

two groups of integrated people, black and white, leaving a greyhound buses traveling to the deep south to test whether the facilities and modes of transportation were compliant with the recent supreme court ruling in which the zipping court outlawed segregation and interstate travel. the plan was the group that left washington, d.c. would travel through the deep south and would arrive in new orleans on may 17, 1961, the seventh anniversary of the brown versus board of education decision. as they left washington, d.c. in trouble through the upper south, virginia, north carolina, they really did run into much resistance. there were a few players -- glares but nothing serious. as a entered the deeper south, south carolina, rock hill's specifically, that is when they

first encountered violence and were attacked. part of the plan for the freedom ride is they would test the ruling by going in and using facilities that were secretary did. -- segregated. black passengers would use the white facilities and white passengers would use the black facilities. as they got off the bus here in south carolina and proceeded into the station to test with ruling,ing -- test the there were white segregationists never there and they attacked the freedom writers -- riders. several were injured. as they traveled throughout south carolina into georgia there were other skirmishes. in atlanta the group was able to meet with dr. martin luther king jr. who was at that time president of the southern christian leadership conference. concerns about the group continuing the ride and alabama. there were sources that have

reported to him that there would be violence waiting for the freedom riders. they were aware of his concerns but decided to continue the ride. they left atlanta on may 14, 1961. there were two groups of travelers, integrated groups on the greyhound bus and a trailways bus. they departed from atlanta an hour apart. when the bus arrived, there was a mob waiting for the bus. they attacked the bus. they broke out windows. they rocked the bus to try to turn it over. the bus was able to pull away from the station but not for the tires have been slashed. when it pulled over to try to phone for help, the mob attacked again. someone in the mob through a molotov cocktail. the bus filled with smoke and fumes. as the freedom riders tried to get off the bus, members of the mop held the doors so that people cannot depart.