Friday, February 7, 2025

Join our email blast

Des Moines Forgotten

The Negro Motorist Green Book

2/5/2025

I was in Memphis between Christmas and New Years for the very first time, and I fell in love with the city. It didn’t feel much bigger than Des Moines, and the current music scene had it going on. As far as historical landmarks, I was able to visit both Sun and Stax Records (Stax > Sun), Beale Street and simply embrace the vibes. I also walked through the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

The motel has been transformed into the National Civil Rights Museum and has preserved room 306 where Dr. King spent the last hours of his life. To describe the feeling as heavy doesn’t cut it. A permanent sadness is in the air. The only time I have ever felt something like this was standing outside Cub Foods a week after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis.

Between the late the 1930s and 1960s, the Lorraine Motel was listed in The Negro Motorist Green Book, an annual series of travel guides listing hotels and restaurants that would serve Black patrons that was published by Victor Green of New York. During a time when many businesses were “white only,” and some towns were closed to blacks after sundown, these little green books made it easier for people to safely navigate around the country. The book carried the tagline, “Vacation without aggravation.”

I picked up a copy of the facsimile edition where it has since been renamed Travelers’ Green Book, and, of course, I flip to the Iowa section. Several towns in our state were listed — Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Dubuque, Iowa City, Newton, Ottumwa, Sioux City, Waterloo and Des Moines. 

CNA - 988LifeLine.org (2) (Feb. 2025)CNA - 988LifeLine.orgCNA - HPV (Feb 2025)CNA - HIV/STI (Feb. 2025)

In the 1964 edition, Des Moines lists six businesses that travelers could hit when passing through. The Community Restaurant and Erma & Carrie’s were both located on Center Street. Peck’s over on 13th and Sampson’s East 17th were listed, too. These places are no longer standing. However, I did a search for the Maple Grove Motel, which was the only place to stop and rest that was listed in the book outside of the Y.W.C.A., which would have been just a step above a hostel. The address of 6500 Hickman Road pulled up a photo in our often-agitated neighboring town of Windsor Heights. It is now called Windsor Court and seems to be a motel and/or apartments. I can’t confirm this, but the architecture makes me think this was the original building. Guests would drive their car and park it right in front of their room. Reminded me of a few places my mom and I would stay in when we traveled south.

The Green Book also listed convention schedules in major cities so travelers could avoid the crowds. There was an international guide that included cities in Canada and Mexico along with an up-to-date currency exchange reference guide. The Ford Motor Company was a large advertiser in these books. Any page that referenced auto sales or repair service had Ford big and bold. 

Victor Green passed away in 1960 before he could see the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would outlaw discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

Before writing this, I compared two versions of The Green Book: The 1964 and 1949 editions. In the 1949 edition, Des Moines had more than 30 listings that not only included restaurants and hotels, but also beauty parlors, taverns, tailors and drug stores. The 1964 edition had six listings total: four restaurants and two hotels, with one being the Y.W.C.A. Does that mean anything? I don’t know, and I don’t want to burn time speculating.

I stated earlier that I was digging the current music scene in Memphis, so I want to recommend everyone to check out Goner Records. They have a small storefront that I was able to check out and pick up some solid punk rock classics from Skin-Deep, Specimen and The Cavemen. They are also a record label that has some cool stuff to zone out with like PYPY (Montreal), The Nots (Memphis) and Split System (Australia). ♦

Kristian Day is a filmmaker and writer based in Des Moines. He also hosts the syndicated Iowa Basement Tapes radio program on 98.9 FM KFMG. Instagram: @kristianday | Twitter: @kristianmday

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*