Money from the grant will be used to hire a preservation consultant who will complete a study of properties and sites associated with African-American recreation.
MICHIGAN, USA — The Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced Wednesday that the Michigan Strategic Fund’s Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has been awarded a $75,000 grant from the Historic Preservation Fund’s African American Civil Rights History Program, administered by the National Park Service.
Money from the grant will be used to hire a preservation consultant who will complete a study of properties and sites associated with African-American recreation that were published in the “Negro Motorist Green Book,” a guidebook published between 1936 and 1966 that listed hotels, restaurants and other establishments that were safe for African-American travelers of the time.
Information from the study will be used to create a historical context for African American recreational tourism in Michigan and to develop a recommendation for the property to be included in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
“Gas stations, rooming houses, resorts and other recreational and tourism-related establishments are integral to the African-American experience in Michigan, and receiving this grant will allow us to gain a deeper understanding of that experience. The grants awarded to the African-American Recreational Tourism and Michigan Black Drivers Green Book Project will deepen our understanding of this history,” said State Historic Preservation Officer Ryan Shoemaker. “By identifying and celebrating these places, this project aims to highlight their historical significance and the role they have played in Michigan’s history.”
In the early 20th century, traveling was difficult for African-American families, not just in the South, but in northern states like Michigan, too. That’s where Victor H. Green’s “Green Book for Negro Motorists” came in. Green was a New Jersey postal worker and civic leader. He first published the book in 1936 to help travelers find safe places to visit and get fuel, food, and other services.
Initially, the Green Book was limited to New York City, but it quickly expanded to other states, including Michigan. SHPO staff has approximately 210 locations in the state included in the Green Book for review and investigation.
This research will be documented in a comprehensive “Statewide Historical Context of African American Recreational Tourism,” a historic resources survey, and NRHP nomination document, and, with the support of a federal civil rights grant, will identify significant themes, trends, time periods, people, and property types using the national civil rights context and guidance from the NPS.
“Since 2016, the National Park Service has provided more than $126 million through this program to document, preserve and recognize the places and stories related to the African-American civil rights struggle,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams.
The Michigan project is just one of 39 projects funded nationwide as part of the African American Civil Rights Grants Program, which also includes a grant awarded to Eastern Michigan University to help document sites associated with the civil rights movement in east Detroit.
To learn more about SHPO’s efforts to tell the stories of places like this one across the state, visit miplace.org/historic-preservation.
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