Portraits of Truth, Douglass, Phillips, Garrison Alongside “The Green Book” Travel Guide Lead Upcoming African Americana Auction

“I don’t get enough to eat. Please send me something to eat,” was written by an enslaved man leased to the Confederacy. During this period, Hyde Park was owned by the Fowlkes family. Some of the people enslaved by the Fowlkes family were requisitioned by the Confederate government during the American Civil War. They sent home these letters (likely by dictation), which were then kept as family papers titled “Ages of Slaves” by the Hyde Park plantation owners of Virginia. The upcoming Printed & Manuscript African Americana sale from Swann Auction Galleries presents these records in a single lot, which contains five volumes plus 46 other items in one box dated 1794 to 1936. The strongest impression from these letters is that the enslaved people were being starved. Also included are several loose papers documenting the family’s slavery transactions.

Another notable lot in this sale is The Negro Travelers’ Green Book. The cover of this edition states “Carry your Green Book with you . . . You may need it!” It was presumably offered for sale at gas stations or bookstores. The copy offered in the sale was printed as a special promotional giveaway by the Esso Standard Oil Company, which was known for its educational work in the community, an integrated classroom at the Esso Training Center, and a Black-owned Esso filling station in Buffalo, NY. This book was considered an indispensable travel guide for Black families. It was published at a time when long-distance travel could be dangerous for them due to Jim Crow laws and racial hostility. Friendly service stations, hotels, nightclubs, and restaurants are arranged by state across the country in the book. The last Green Book was printed in 1966. Visit Swann Auction Galleries to find the listed items and register to place a bid in the Printed & Manuscript African Americana sale.