The Hartsville Museum celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the Museum by presenting this Lecture Series. The first lecture in the series was held virtually on September 3, 2020.
List of Negro Motorist Green Book sites in Florence and Darlington
Name of business: NA
Owner: Mrs. Catherine Godbold
Address: 227 E. Marion St., Florence SC
Type of business: guest house
Years active: ~1930 – 1940
Additional info:
Wife of Walter Godbold, daughter of Lemuel & Abbie Gadsden
Seamstress at Levenson’s Quality Shop
Name of Business: NA
Owner: Mrs. Bertha Wright
Address: 1004 E. Cheves St., Florence, SC
Type of business: guest house
Years active: ~1930 – 1952
Additional info:
Wife of William Wright
Possible teacher at Wilson High School
Possible relation to Alex Flemming
Member of Cumberland United Methodist Church
McDonald Tourist Home
Owner: John McDonald
Address: 501 S. Irby St., Florence, SC (corner of S. Irby & Elm, currently South Carolina Federal Credit Union)
Type of business: guest house
Years active: 1938 – 1959
Additional info: Member of Cumberland United Methodist Church
Name of business: NA
Owner: M. L. Caungton
Address: 715 S. Main St., Darlington, SC
Type of business: service station / gas station
Years active: 1939
Ace’s Grill
Owners: George & Luretha Dennison, Walter & Juanita Alston
Address: 1109 E. Cheves St., Florence, SC (corner of E. Cheves & Kemp, currently Pee Dee Nephrology)
Type of business: restaurant
Years active: 1948 – ~1993
Additional info:
The Dennison’s were members of Cumberland United Methodist Church
Walter Alston was a member of Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal
Name of business: Richmond Rest
Owners: Lillie & George Richmond
Addresses:
108 S. Griffin St., Florence, SC (1st location)
1107 E. Evans St., Florence, SC (2nd location)
Type of business: guesthouse
Years active: 1949 – ~1961
Additional info:
Owned Richmond Café on E. Evans St. prior to operating the guesthouses
Possible relation to Gertrude James
Members of Trinity Baptist Church
Name of business: Ebony Guest House
Owners: Mary & Norman Holmes
Address: 712 N. Wilson St., Florence, SC
Type of business: guesthouse
Years active: 1953 - ~1973
“Wright’s”
Owner: Paul “Doc” Wright
Address:
110 S. Griffin St., Florence, SC (1st location, unknown)
802 E. Cheves St., Florence, SC (2nd location, guesthouse?)
711 Lynch St., Florence, SC (3rd location, unknown)
244 N. Dargan St., Florence, SC (4th location, 400 Club)
Type of business: guesthouse, restaurant
Years active: 1953 – ~1963
Additional info:
Also operated the Spring Valley Motel, Po Boy Club (Timmonsville)
Local taxi driver for many years
Member of Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church
Spring Valley Motel & Restaurant
Owners: James & Marian Miller
Address: US HWY 301, Florence, SC (currently Florence Flea Market)
Type of business: motel, restaurant
Years active: 1963 - ~1976
Additional info:
James Miller was the former principal of Holmes School, he also briefly operated The Green Leaf Guest House on E. Darlington St.
Marian Miller was a librarian and teacher at Wilson High School
Members of Trinity Baptist Church
Mabel’s Motel & Chicken Shack
Owner: Mabel Robinson
Address: US HWY 52, Darlington, SC (currently Blackmon Memorials)
Type of business: motel, restaurant
Years active: ~1945- ~1984
Additional info: Also operated an additional restaurant by the name of “Dew Drop” in Darlington.
The Florence County Museum is particularly interested in any of the following regarding the Florence and Darlington area “Green Book” sites and their owners:
Photographs of Florence and Darlington area Green Book businesses and their owners
Ephemera such as menus from restaurants, business cards, or any documents or artifacts that possess the names of the Florence and Darlington area “Green Book” business owners or their business logo
Personal stories and narratives from those who knew the owners of the Florence and Darlington area “Green Book” businesses and from those who patronized their businesses
Old photographs of downtown Florence (1930’s – 1990’s) specifically N. Dargan, E. Cheves, E. Evans, S. Griffin, S. Irby and E. Darlington streets
Yearbooks from Wilson High School
Those with any information they are willing to share are asked to please contact:
Cherish Thomas
Registrar, Florence County Museum
Additional resources
Where to find Green Books and other African American travel guides
New York Public Library Digital Collections (https://digitalcollections.nypl.org)
The Negro Motorist Green Book (1937-1967)
excluding years 1942-1946, 1958, 1965-1966
became The Negro Travelers Green Book in 1952, The Travelers’ Green Book in 1960
Go Guide To Pleasant Motoring (1952)
Travelguide (1947 - 1963)
excluding years 1948, 1960-1961
Hackley & Harrison’s Hotel and Apartment Guide For Colored Travelers (1930-1931)
1931 edition is called The Travelers Guide
Smith’s Tourist Guide (1940)
Local library, archives
SC Lends (https://sclends.lib.sc.us/eg/opac/home)
InterLibrary Loan (contact local library for details)
Books
Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights by Gretchen Sullivan Sorin
The Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America by Candacy Taylor
Traveling Black/Buying Black: Retail and Roadside Accommodations during the Segregation Era by Mia Bay, Ann Fabian
Ruth and the Green Book by Alexander Ramsey Calvin
Websites
You Will Find It Handy: https://www.catherinezipf.com/greenbook/
Mapping The Green Book: https://mappingthegreenbook.tumblr.com
Navigating The Green Book: https://publicdomain.nypl.org/greenbook-map/
Green Book - Route 66: https://ncptt.nps.gov/rt66/green-book/
Green Book of South Carolina: https://greenbookofsc.com/
The Green Book for Charleston, 1938-1966: https://www.ccpl.org/charleston-time-machine/green-book-charleston-1938-1966
Historic Columbia: https://www.historiccolumbia.org/GreenBook
Documentary
The Green Book: Guide to Freedom
In the 1930s, a black postal carrier from Harlem named Victor Green published a book that was part travel guide and part survival guide. It was called The Negro Motorist Green Book, and it helped African-Americans navigate safe passage across America well into the 1960s. Watch at smithsonianchannel.com.
