Left: Negro Motorist Green Book 1949 from NYPL
of PAST, which owns and operates the museum. Providing a safe haven for Black travelers“ was one of his driving factors. It’ s not like he woke up and decided‘ I want to be a hotelier.’
“ When I gave tours of the museum, I would give the context of the Jim Crow era. If a Black person went somewhere that didn’ t welcome you, the bestcase scenario is that you didn’ t get service, but the worst-case scenario is that you could be harmed. It was extraordinarily important to have a guide like the Green Book.”
Black travelers might stay“ with a friend, a family member, in a rooming house or in their car,” said Grace, who currently is president and CEO of the Central Florida Urban League.“ The Wells’ Built Hotel was so important because for a long time it was the only hotel option” in Orlando.
Wells did more than provide a sanctuary for Black travelers. While the hotel’ s second floor housed rooms for visitors, the 34,000 square feet of the hotel’ s ground floor was divided into three separate sections, each with their own front entrance – thus creating three areas“ that he rented to other Black business owners as storefront space,” Grace said.
The South Street Casino, meanwhile, became a part of the Chitlin Circuit, the informal, nationwide network of clubs, theaters and other venues where Black entertainers were allowed to perform during the Jim Crow era. Such legendary performers as Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, B. B. King, Louis Armstrong and others would perform at the casino and stay at the hotel.
Also, baseball legend Jackie Robinson and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall were among the hotel’ s prominent guests.
One of the goals of today’ s museum is“ to celebrate Florida and Central Floridians, and so we have information that others might not have,” Grace said. That includes how Mary Mcleod Bethune worked with Dr. Wells for community advancement, and information on Jacksonville brothers James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson, who wrote“ Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which became known as the“ Negro National Anthem.”
However, Grace added, the museum structure itself“ is the most important thing because you have to physically negotiate this building that’ s 100 years old. It makes you have this conversation about the segregation of Jim Crow, and the historic Black community here in Orlando.”
The introduction to the 1949 Green Book concludes by noting:“ There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published. That is when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges in the United States. It will be a great day for us to suspend this publication for then we can go wherever we please, and without embarrassment. But until that time comes we shall continue to publish this information for your convenience each year.”
The Wells’ Built Museum is a testament to the days before that Green Book prophecy became true.
Rick de Yampert is a freelance writer living in Palm Coast, Florida. Previously he was a writer for 30 years at daily newspapers in Florida, Tennessee and Alabama.
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