C4
EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE
East Oregonian
Saturday, February 23, 2019
RETRACING THE
‘GREEN BOOK’ PATH
Oscar-nominated
interracial road trip
film has spurred
interest in the 20th
century guidebook
By RUSSELL CONTRERAS
AND JAY REEVES
Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)
— The Oscar-nominated interra-
cial road trip movie “Green Book”
has spurred interest in the real
guidebook that helped black trav-
elers navigate segregated Amer-
ica. With a little research, travel-
ers can find copies of “The Negro
Motorist Green Book” online and
retrace the route in the movie or
develop their own tours of sites
that once provided refuge to
African-Americans.
The Peter Farrelly film fol-
lows an Italian-American bouncer,
played by Viggo Mortensen, as he
drives a prominent black classical
pianist, played by Mahershala Ali,
during a 1962 music tour through
Jim Crow-era America. To avoid
conflict and to protect the pianist,
Mortensen’s character uses the
Green Book — a guide published
from 1936 to 1966 by Harlem
postal worker Victor H. Green.
The Green Book offered black
travelers tips on places to eat, visit
and sleep while on the road. The
taverns, hotels and gas stations
were often black-owned and were
identified via word-of-mouth or
through advertisements.
“Carry your Green Book with
you,” the book warned readers on
its cover. “You may need it!”
Today, curious travelers can
find copies of every edition of the
Green Book for free at the New
York Public Library Digital Col-
lections or purchase replicas from
the Camarillo, California-based
About Comics publisher. Inside,
readers will find listings in almost
every state with addresses of places
that catered to African American
travelers amid of world of “Whites
Only” restaurants, hotels and other
establishments across the United
States.
Some of the places featured in
the travel guide still exist, at least
as shadows of their former selves.
In Birmingham, Alabama, the
city of the final performance in
the movie, the once black-owned
A.G. Gaston Motel is now part of
a national monument established
by then-President Barack Obama.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
and aides stayed at the motel while
AP Photo/Jay Reeves
A lock and chain secures the door of the old Ben Moore Hotel, once mentioned in the “Green Book” for black
travelers, in Montgomery, Ala.
The Oklahoman via AP/Nate Billings, File
In this Dec. 3, 2018, file photo, Rev. Allen Threatt III, left, and his cousin Edward Threatt stand outside the historic
Threatt Filling Station on U.S. 66 in Luther, Okla. The early gas station on Route 66 was a safe haven for African
American travelers and locals.
planning demonstrations against
legalized racial segregation in the
city in 1963.
Now abandoned and owned by
the city, the motel once was an
upscale haven with a restaurant
and live music for blacks seek-
ing safety in a place known as the
most segregated city in America.
It eventually will be refurbished
as part of plans that call for it to
become a centerpiece of the Bir-
mingham Civil Rights National
Monument.
About 90 miles to the south, in
Montgomery, King often got his
hair cut in a barber shop inside
the Ben Moore Hotel, which was
a Green Book fixture at the time
King was pastoring a church in
Alabama’s capital in the 1950s.
The hotel still stands on a corner,
vacant and decaying.
Meanwhile, in Albuquerque,
New Mexico, the De Anza Motor
Lodge, a business owned by Zuni
trader and Indian art collector
Charles G. Wallace along the his-
toric Route 66, is still standing,
barely. It offered black motorists
opportunities for a good night’s
rest and a chance to catch a nearby
show of American Indian and
Mexican-American doo-wop sing-
ers. The motel was listed in some
editions of the Green Book and is
undergoing renovation after years
of being abandoned.
The Threatt Filling Station
in Luther, Oklahoma, is on the
National Register of Historic
Places for its distinction as a
black-owned filling station along
the Route 66 “Mother Road.” The
Threatt family’s recent partner-
ship with historians to preserve
the former station and the movie
“Green Book” have brought about
a renaissance of sorts for the struc-
ture, The Oklahoman reported in
December.
Charles Becknell Sr., 77, of
Rio Rancho, New Mexico, said
he bought a 1954 edition of the
Green Book online after he saw
the movie. The retired educa-
tor plans on visiting some of the
sites mentioned in the book to see
what’s there now. “I also wanted
my grandchild to see this book for
themselves,” Becknell said.
To be sure, some of the sites
mentioned in the Green Book
no longer exist and the buildings
that once housed them have been
replaced or torn down.
Frank’s Restaurant in New
York City’s Harlem neighborhood,
advertised in the 1959 Green Book
edition, is long gone and a now
defunct discount store occupies the
spot. The former Booker Washing
Hotel and Courts in San Francisco,
which once offered black travelers
“splendidly decorated suites” and
a “cocktail lounge,” is now a Safe-
way grocery store and apartments.
Still, visitors can use the guide
to visit the sites and see how a place
that once provided safe haven has
evolved and contemplate what it
meant for black travelers more
than 50 years ago.
The movie “Green Book” is
nominated for best picture at the
91st Academy Awards scheduled
to air Sunday on ABC. Mortensen
is nominated for the best actor
award and Ali as best supporting
actor.
AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN
Make plain biscuits, then dress them up
These plain biscuits can be
dressed up with any flavorful,
relatively dry ingredient, such
as herbs, scallions, cheese, dried
fruit, or spices. For variations
on the recipe, see below. Follow
this recipe with your kids.
Buttermilk drop biscuits
EO file photo
Topped and sealed cans of EOD Double IPA move down the production
line during the canning process in 2017 at Ordnance Brewing in Board-
man.
Ordnance Brewing wins IPA
award at beer festival
The Boardman
brewery bested 123
other entries
East Oregonian
Boardman’s Ordnance Brew-
ing is a staple for many local beer
drinkers. But the company got a
bigger stage last weekend at the
Best of Craft Beer awards, which
took place in Bend.
Ordnance took home three
medals, including a gold medal
for its EOD, an American Style
IPA. The brew was chosen from
124 entries. The festival featured
entries from 33 states, and 162 dif-
ferent breweries.
Catie Doverspike, team coordi-
nator at Ordnance Brewing, said
they entered eight beers at the fes-
tival, but were most proud of the
IPA win.
“It’s probably the most impres-
sive because of how many people
entered,” she said.
Doverspike said Ordnance has
been brewing the EOD for about
four years, and has been tweaking
the recipe to make it less hoppy.
Ordnance’s New Lite Hearted
Lager and its Tetra Negra Oatmeal
Stout won silver medals at the fes-
tival, as well.
Servings: 10-12
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes, plus
cooling time
Prepare Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
8 tablespoons unsalted but-
ter, melted (see page 12 for how
to melt butter)
Vegetable oil spray
Gather
Cooking
Equipment:
Rimmed baking sheet
Parchment paper
Large bowl
Whisk
Liquid measuring cup
Fork
Rubber spatula
¼ cup dry measuring cup
Butter knife
Oven mitts
Cooling rack
Start Cooking!
Adjust oven rack to middle
position and heat oven to 450 F.
Line rimmed baking sheet with
parchment paper.
In large bowl, whisk flour,
baking powder, baking soda,
sugar, and salt until combined. In
liquid measuring cup, use fork to
stir buttermilk and melted butter
until butter forms small clumps.
America’s Test Kitchen/Joe Keller
Buttermilk Drop Biscuits as they appear in “The Complete Cookbook
for Young Chefs.”
Add buttermilk mixture to
bowl with flour mixture. Use
rubber spatula to stir until just
combined.
Spray inside of ¼-cup dry
measuring cup with vegetable
oil spray. Use greased measur-
ing cup to scoop batter and use
butter knife to scrape off extra
batter. Drop scoops onto bak-
ing sheet to make 10 to 12 bis-
cuits (leave space between bis-
cuits and respray measuring cup
as needed).
Place baking sheet in oven
and bake biscuits until tops are
golden brown 12 to 14 minutes.
Use oven mitts to remove bak-
ing sheet from oven (ask an adult
for help). Place baking sheet on
cooling rack. Let biscuits cool
on baking sheet for 10 minutes.
Serve warm.
— Cheesy Drop Biscuits:
When mixing in bowl, stir ½ cup
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
or mild cheddar cheese and ¼
cup grated Parmesan cheese into
flour mixture.
— Herby Drop Biscuits:
When mixing in bowl, stir 1
tablespoon minced fresh thyme
or ¾ teaspoon dried thyme into
flour mixture.