Safe Trips: History Center Exhibit Highlights ‘Green Book’ of Road Trips for African Americans

The building that housed the former Scotty’s Service Garage, Esso Gas Station and Auto Repair Shop on Center Avenue in the Hill District still stands.

It was more than a place to pick up a car—it was a safe and welcoming place for African Americans.

A front-facing portrait of his owner, Samuel “Scotty” Scott, is one of the artifacts on display at the Senator John Heinz History Center’s new exhibit, “The Negro Driver’s Green Book.” The exhibit provides an immersive look at the realities of travel for African Americans at mid-century.

It opened on Saturday.

“Scotty is still there,” Samuel W. Black, director of African American programs at the Strip District History Center, said at a media briefing Thursday. “I don’t know if the current owners know the connection, but if they don’t, we invite them to come to the exhibit.”

Scott was an entrepreneur whose company represented business owners whose company was included in the Green Book, said Andy Masich, president and CEO of the history center.

The publication was produced in 1936 by Harlem postman Victor Hugo Green. It was published and distributed nationally for three decades, organizing African American restaurants, gas stations, department stores and other businesses that welcomed black travelers — including more than 30 businesses in Western Pennsylvania like Scotty’s.

The book was published in In 1948 it was 75 cents. Pittsburgh was listed in all editions from 1936-66.

“It was extremely dangerous for African Americans to travel in this country,” Black said. “That’s not a joke.”

The information was important at the time because it was a time of Jim Crow laws and “sunset towns”—communities that prevented blacks from being there or driving at night.

“It’s fun to call it a ‘travel guide,'” Masich said. “In many ways, it was a survival guide for African American families traveling across America, especially in the South. They had to know where to sleep, where to eat, where to get gas.

The exhibit features trademarks, vintage cars, historic footage, archival footage and accounts from local residents.

Many of them had “travel styles,” said Black, who interviewed the group about travel at the time. Clarence Curry tells his black father that he plans their routes when they try to visit relatives, especially when they travel south.

Cary recalled that his father would change license plates so that they could be seen as local despite legal concerns when traveling south.

Out-of-towners, especially those with fancy cars and Northern license plates, are vulnerable to locals and their sheriffs, according to an article in the spring issue of the history center’s magazine.

The exhibit, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibition Service, explores the history of the guide that helped black travelers navigate the country safely and with dignity during segregation. The Smithsonian took a nostalgic view of the story and spoke to a progressive business enterprise in the black community that people hadn’t noticed before, says Black.

The historic center features Pittsburgh-owned beauty shops, restaurants, jazz clubs, and hotels, including the Hill District Terrace Hall Hotel, Harlem Casino Dance Hall, and the Palace Hotel.

There is a drink menu from the Harlem Casino and a cash register for use at the Terrace Hall Hotel.

A 1960s sign from the Center Avenue YMCA and a 1960s Eso service station sign from the William E. Swigart, Jr. Automobile Museum in Huntingdon, Pa., are part of the show, including a loan sign near Scotty’s display. Esso, which distributed the book across the country, was one of the first gas companies to do black business.

As a travel student, Greene understood the obstacles African Americans faced when trying to become more mobile, moving around the country, and created a business/travel directory to address black tragedies.

At the Carnegie Museum of Art in Oakland, there is an interactive scale and photographs from the History Center’s Dieter Library and Archives and the Charles “Tiny” Harris Archives.

Dania Childers, associate coordinator of African American history at the history center, said the green book is a great tool. The photos reveal a big part of the story, she said. Some of these show African Americans loading their cars with picnic baskets, not just clothes, as they often eat in their cars or on the road.

African Americans have overcome challenges, Masich said. He quotes Aretha Franklin, “They’re singing on the highway because they know where to stop.”

“For them it was a declaration of independence, a road trip,” Masich said. “When you look around you see happiness.

“The Jim Crow era was a horrible story and yet African American people are strong and creative and that joy is expressed in travel.”