A state historic preservation project aims to identify and document properties in Michigan that were once listed in Negro Motorist Green Books.
Those guides helped African Americans avoid racial discrimination while traveling before the Civil Rights era.
To learn more about the Green Book Site Project, WKAR's Melorie Begay spoke with Katie Kolokithas of the State Historic Preservation Office.
Interview Highlights:
On how many sites remain:
"There were about 240 listed over the course of the lifespan of the Green Books, and we've narrowed down to somewhere under 100. We think it's likely somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 to 60.but we're still working on our research."
On some of the challenges:
"We think, especially in areas in southwest Michigan, there [were] a lot of folks that came from Chicago. It's looking more and more like they potentially rented instead of owned property; we are looking through property records back to like the late 1890s and are not finding any record of them owning these properties. So it's appearing that those rental records are probably kind of lost to the history books, unless we find a family member or a descendant of these folks that knew where these places were."
On what it means to tell "Michigan's full story":
"It gives us a broader picture of what and who was coming here and why. And then it also allows us to evenly take into account impacts to some of those places, as we look at other projects and as we as an office perform our functions. So it's very important that we identify these places and that people have been coming from all over the country to visit here and see what a beautiful state we have."
Interview Transcript:
Melorie Begay: This project aims to find and document the last remaining sites in Michigan that were featured in Green Books. Do you have an idea of how many could still be out there?
Katie Kolokithas: We've spent the last two-ish years going through and narrowing down the list of what was listed. There were about 240 listed over the course of the lifespan of the Green Books, and we've narrowed down to somewhere under 100. We think it's likely somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 to 60, but we're still working on our research.
Begay: And what happens when a site is found?
Kolokithas: So, we are going to be doing a historic resource survey, which is where we have a contractor go out and photograph and document history of the buildings, and then they present that back to us in a specific format. And then ideally, we will bring it to a format that allows us to create a document to make registration of those sites in the National Register of Historic Places easier. So, if a property owner wants to list their property, the document that we're creating as part of this project will make that significantly easier for them.
Begay: And I'm curious, as you're looking for these sites, are there any areas in the state that were considered safe places to travel for Black Americans, that people maybe weren't previously aware of?
Kolokithas: That's been one of the most interesting parts of this project is that there were sites all over the entire state, primarily, though there were none in the U.P. that were listed in the Green Book, so that's kind of our one area of exclusion. But we have sites in [the] Alpena area. We have sites in [the] Petoskey area. We have sites in southwest Michigan. We have sites in the thumb. They're really spread geographically across the state, which is really interesting.
Begay: You mentioned there are some limits to where these sites existed. Are there any other challenges that have come up as you're working on this project?
Kolokithas: One of our biggest challenges has been trying to find property records, and property ownership records. We think, especially in areas in southwest Michigan, there [were] a lot of folks that came from Chicago. It's looking more and more like they potentially rented instead of owned property; we are looking through property records back to like the late 1890s and are not finding any record of them owning these properties. So it's appearing that those rental records are probably kind of lost to the history books, unless we find a family member or a descendant of these folks that knew where these places were, we’re definitely struggling on some of those that they may not have owned the property.
Begay: Has there been a site or a location that you've been particularly fascinated by or interested in?
Kolokithas: We've had a few. There's one in Oakland County that I was able to track down a family member of the folks that owned it, and he was able to help me narrow down where it is. It's in Rose Township, and some of the buildings still exist. So that was pretty neat to be able to talk to someone who, you know, he spent summers there as a kid. There were two in Three Rivers that were right next to each other, and the local historic society there was able to help us narrow down and figure out where those are, and they're both still standing, which was really neat.
Begay: One of the goals of the project is to, quote, “tell Michigan's full story.” How important is it to preserve this part of the state's history? And what do you think these sites tell us about Michigan's past?
Kolokithas: I think this helps us get a broad sense of all of the people in Michigan that were coming, that were traveling here, Michigan has been a tourist destination for hundreds of years at this point.
So I think that it helps tell the other side of that story. It gives us a broader picture of what and who was coming here and why. And then it also allows us to evenly take into account impacts to some of those places, as we look at other projects and as we as an office perform our functions.
So it's very important that we identify these places and that people have been coming from all over the country to visit here and see what a beautiful state we have, and enjoy the lakes and all of the things that Michigan has to offer.
You know, one of the interesting parts of this, the research that we've done so far has been where all of these folks were coming from. It's not just Chicago. There's lots of folks coming from Cincinnati and many other Midwest states to recreate in Michigan. So it's been a really interesting exploration so far.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
