The Green Book, Auburn Avenue, and a legacy of groundbreaking Black women
Victor Hugo Green’s Green Book, and the sites contained in his guide, provided a safe-haven for traveling African Americans in the Jim Crow South. This month, Sweet Auburn celebrates three iconic African American women whose businesses listed in the Green Book helped shape Sweet Auburn’s vibrant past.
During the times of Jim Crow South, segregated Atlanta was a particularly challenging environment for African Americans. This image from signage at Ponce De Leon Springs Park reminds us that African Americans were not usually welcome to enjoy the pleasures of public life in Atlanta.
In fact, throughout the Jim Crow South, a time when racism, prejudice, and legally prescribed discrimination were the order of the day, it was common for Black travelers to run into challenges gaining service from white-owned businesses while on the road. The challenges could include things as benign as vehicle repair, and being refused lodging and food at hotels. Or even worse, many could face threats of physical violence, and forcible expulsion from whites-only “sundown towns”.
Victor Hugo Green
The Negro Motorist Green Book in 1936
The often unavoidable dangers and inconveniences faced by Black travelers prompted a postal carrier from Harlem, NY by the name of Victor Hugo Green to publish The Negro Motorist Green Book in 1936. The Green Book, as it became to be known as, contained businesses that were welcoming to Black travelers, and was a compilation of resources “to give the Negro traveler information that will keep him from running into difficulties, embarrassments and to make his trip more enjoyable”. Organized by state, the Green Book contained the names and addresses of hotels, motels, tourist homes, restaurants, and other services that were safe for Blacks to patronize.
For sale by subscription and available for purchase at Esso gas stations, at its height, the Green Book sold 2 million copies per year. In the 1948 edition, Green prophetically wrote these words, “There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published. This is when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges in the United States.” Green unfortunately never got to see the change he wrote about because he died before the passing of the Civil Rights Act (essentially eradicating the need for the guide). 1967 was the last year the Green Book was published, however, it is extremely important for us to look at it not just as a historic travel guide. Rather, the Green Book represents one of myriad tools used by African Americans to thrive in much less than ideal circumstances.
Auburn Avenue
By the time The Green Book was first published in 1936, the Sweet Auburn community was arguably the center of African American commerce, politics, and spirituality in Atlanta. Nestled along a mile and a half of Auburn Avenue, the Sweet Auburn Historic District is a beautiful reflection of the history, heritage, and achievements of African American’s in the city of Atlanta. It is no wonder that of the sixteen locations listed in the 1950 edition, seven called their home the Sweet Auburn community.
Many of Sweet Auburn’s most notable businesses and organizations were started and run by exceptional African American women entrepreneurs. The Green Book of 1950 documents this fact by listing three women-owned enterprises of the seven total. In this first of a series of photo essays celebrating Sweet Auburn’s Green Book sites, we will highlight those three groundbreaking women.
Haugabrooks Funeral Home
Before establishing Haugabrooks Funeral Home in 1929, Mrs. Geneva Morton Haugabrooks worked as a cook for Governor Station for roughly eight years and also worked as a schoolteacher. A pillar in her community, Mrs. Haugabrooks was noted for her many accomplishments and outstanding service in the community by the NAACP, the Urban League, the Young Men’s Christian Association, Atlanta’s African American churches, National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, Inc., National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc., (then) Georgia Governor, Mr. Joe Frank Harris, and many more.
Mrs. Haugabrooks was greatly respected and highly revered as one of the earlier pioneers of Atlanta’s Black businesses. She was also known as one of the few Black women entrepreneurs on Auburn Avenue.
The historic funeral home building at 364 Auburn Avenue is now home to Haugabrooks on Auburn, a special events venue operated by the Historic District Development Corporation (HDDC).
Sutton’s Restaurant
Scottie B. Sutton, affectionately known as “Ma Sutton” was born around 1882 and came to Atlanta in the early twentieth century from Washington, Georgia. Getting a start in her career by serving a white family on Peachtree Street, Ma Sutton went on to open up her own restaurant in 1918, located at 312 Auburn Avenue. Sutton’s Restaurant served “southern specialties” and was popular among the likes of Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and other Black celebrities who were refused service at whites-only restaurants when they toured Atlanta. Ma Sutton retired in 1950 and the restaurant closed in 1953.
An excerpt from the book, “Living Atlanta: An Oral History of the City, 1914-1948” by Clifford M. Kuhn on Ma Sutton told by one Horace Sinclair: “They called her Ma Sutton,” recalls Sinclair. “Everybody all over the country would come to Atlanta and go get a decent meal at Ma Sutton’s. She would really set the table. You’d get everything on the table just like you would be at home, serve yourself. You’d have meats and vegetables of all kinds, light rolls, cornbread, coffee, milk, or tea. She’d even put preserves on the table, all that stuff.”
After Sutton’s closed in 1953 the 312 Auburn location was home to additional occupants, including Tom Porter’s Cafe.
Today, the building at 312 Auburn is currently under construction to receive its next retail tenant.
The Hotel Royal
Carrie Cunningham started in hospitality by renting rooms on Decatur Street, and in 1937 she put the earnings from renting rooms toward the purchase of the hotel on the upper floors of the Citizens Trust Bank at 200 Auburn Avenue. Renamed the Hotel Royal, it flourished in the center of Black life in Atlanta and was a refuge for those African-Americans traveling in the Jim Crow south.
Carrie Cunningham
Ms. Cunningham donned atop her signature white horse, left her hometown of Fitzgerald, GA, to join the Silas Green Show as a circus rider. The Silas Green Show was a major circus, traveling across the country with a 16-piece band and the main tent that could hold a whopping 1,400 spectators. Blues legend Muddy Waters briefly joined the Show, as did Bessie Smith. The group was so popular that Jet Magazine once called it “almost as much a part of southern culture as collard greens and barbecue ribs.” Cunningham eventually left the Show, still on horseback, and headed for the city. Her next venture would prove even more pivotal.
The Royal Peacock
Though not officially listed in The Green Book, The Royal Peacock was a premier destination for Black travelers looking to see the most popular African American entertainment figures in the country.
This premier venue opened its doors in 1937 at 186 1/2 Auburn Avenue, as The Top Hat Club. But when Carrie Cunningham purchased the club in 1949, she renamed it The Royal Peacock, a festive name to match the colorful feathers that adorned the wall.
Having housed famous acts such as Aretha Franklin, Little Richard, Marvin Gaye, and James Brown, to name a few, the Royal Peacock, known affectionately as “Club Beautiful,” was once revered as the swankiest club in Sweet Auburn.
The Royal Peacock could hold roughly 350 patrons but would often house hundreds more than was permitted, with some people opting to stand on tables and chairs all for a glimpse of the undeniable talent on stage. The lines for shows would snake around the block.
Share your stories of the great Black women of Sweet Auburn
Thank you for celebrating Women’s History Month with Sweet Auburn Works. SAW is seeking additional stories of women who helped shape this community.
Our community has incredible stories that need to be shared, and we hope you will help us learn the rest of our story. Please consider sharing these stories with SAW to help us spread the legacy of this neighborhood. Please feel free to email us info@sweetauburnworks.com with any great female personalities that you believe should be celebrated and acknowledged in Sweet Auburn.
By sharing, you will help us continue to inspire the world with the legacy of Sweet Auburn.