This readme.txt file was generated on 20230608 by Melinda Kernik ------------------- GENERAL INFORMATION ------------------- 1. Title of Dataset: Minnesota Green Book Locations, 1939-1967 2. Author Information Name: Melinda Kernik Institution: University of Minnesota Library Email: kerni016@umn.edu ORCID: 0000-0002-1050-4152 Name: Shana Crosson Institution: U-spatial Email: scrosson@umn.edu ORCID: 0000-0003-0521-2443 Name: John (JJ) Gisselquist 3. Date published or finalized for release: 2023 4. Date of data collection: Business locations published between 1939 and 1967 (Green Book addresses transcribed and geolocated in 2021) 5. Geographic location of data collection: Minnesota 6. Overview of the data (abstract): During the Jim Crow era, many businesses in the United States refused to serve African-Americans and other individuals of color. While an increasing number of black households owned a car during this period, travelers faced inconvenience, discrimination, and danger along the road. "The Negro Motorist Green Book" (Green Book), published by Victor H. Green and Alma Green between the 1936 and 1967, compiled a list of businesses that welcomed African-Americans. Understanding where the Green Book businesses were located provides context for later urban changes, such as the construction of freeways. 7. Description of the data: The spreadsheet has one row for each business per year it appeared in the Green Book. If a business was included in the Green Book listing for multiple years, it will appear in the spreadsheet multiple times. -------------------------- SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION -------------------------- 1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC 3.0 US) 2. Links to publications that cite or use the data: "Green Book" Minnesota GeoInquiry for K12 GIS Education, https://mnk12-umn.hub.arcgis.com/pages/curriculum 3. Was data derived from another source? The Negro Motorist Green Books published by Victor H. Green & Co. between 1939 and 1967. Digitized copies accessed from the New York Public Library Digital Collection: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/the-green-book 4. Terms of Use: Data Repository for the U of Minnesota (DRUM) By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. https://conservancy.umn.edu/pages/drum/policies/#terms-of-use -------------------------- METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION -------------------------- 1. Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: Historical addresses and information about the businesses were transcribed from digital copies of the Green Books accessed from the New York Public Libraries Digital Collections. Many of the buildings no longer exist, having been destroyed during the construction of the freeway or other urban change. Because of this, searching for the addresses in a modern database (like Google maps) was not very effective. Instead, latitude and longitude coordinates for the addresses were found through historical research and by examining georeferenced historical maps, such as Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlases, plat books, and Nirenstein’s Real Estate Atlas. For a more detailed description of our procees, see the How_We_Did_It_Green_Book.pdf. 2. Known data limitations: Some of the spreadsheet locations are approximate. Causes for uncertainty include: 1) Limited availability of historical maps for some areas and time periods, 2) Difficulty georeferencing historical maps in areas that have experienced a lot of change, 3) Multiple locations with the same address, 4) Business for which only a general location was provided in the Green Book. Locations that are approximate have been noted in both the "PopupNote" and "Citation and notes" fields. There were also a few locations that could not be found. For businesses in small towns (Motley and Benson), we included a point at a randomly selected location within the town limits. There were two locations in the Twin Cities ("Nicollette" in 1962 and "Hall" in 1948) which we could not find listed in the city directories or on historical maps - we included the records in the spreadsheet but left "Latitude" and "Longitude" blank. Please also note that the places described in this dataset does not include every business that was willing to serve people of color, but rather the ones that agreed to be featured in the "The Negro Motorist Green Book" publication. The dataset provides a starting point for deeper research into black-owned and civil rights advocating businesses of this era. 3. People involved with sample collection, processing, analysis and/or submission: John (JJ) Gisselquist transcribed addresses from the Green Books. Melinda Kernik and Shana Crosson used historical maps, newspapers, and other resources to approximate latitude and longitude locations. ----------------------------------------- DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: MinnesotaGreenBook_20230804.csv ----------------------------------------- 1. Number of variables: 11 2. Number of cases/rows: 456 (81 unique businesses) 3. Variable List A. Name: Latitude Description: Estimated latitude of the establishment B. Name: Longitude Description: Estimated longitude of the establishment C. Name: YearString Description: String formatted year the establishment appeared in the Green Book [YYYY]. D. Name: YearDate Description: Date formatted year the establishment appeared in the Green Book [1/1/YYYY]. Date fields are required for time-enabled display in web maps. The specific day and month chosen (January 1st) is arbitrary E. Name: Type Description: Service type provided by the establishment as decribed in the Green Book F. Name: CombinedType Description: Broader categories combining types of establishment Alcohol (Liquor Store, Tavern) Automotive (Garages, Service Station) Place to Stay (Hotel, Motel, Motor Court, Tourist Home) Restaurant Tailor G. Name: Name of establishment Description: Name of establishment as recorded in the Green Book H. Name: Address Description: Street address as recorded in the Green Book I. Name: City Description:City as recorded in the Green Book J. Name: PopupNote Description: Indicates if an exact location could not be found "Approximate location": The point is likely close to the correct location of the establishment, but with uncertainty. Issues determining the location are described in greater detail in the "Citation and notes" field. "The exact location has not been found": For small towns, the Green Book often did not list a specific address for establishments and instead listed only the City. If we were unable to determine even an approximate street address, a point representing the establishment was randomly placed in within the City. For two locations in the Twin Cities, we suspect there may have been errors in the original publication and no random point was chosen. K. Name: Citations and notes Description: Notes about how the location was determined including sources and observations. If an exact location could not be found, this field describes the degree of uncertainty and decisions made in placing the approximate point.