Waterbury Thoughts: Waterbury and the Green Book

Thanks to the Oscar awards, the movie Green Book has been getting a lot of attention. There are plenty of good resources for learning more about the historical Green Book -- the New York Public Library has a good online resource, and there have been several short articles and videos looking into some of the Green Book locations. There is also a documentary on the Smithsonian Channel.

The Negro Motorist Green Book, 1939
Collection of The New York Public Library

Much of the focus has been on the southern states covered by the Green Book, but travel through the northern states was also potentially dangerous during the mid-20th century. Having a guide to hotels and tourist homes for African Americans in Connecticut made travel much easier and safer.

Between 1938 and 1950, the only Waterbury locations in the Green Book were in the North Square neighborhood (with the exception of an address on Bridge Street near the heavily Irish Abrigador neighborhood). Beginning in 1950, the Elton Hotel was listed in the Green Book. In 1961, the Putt Meadow Motor Court on Meriden Road was added.

Sample listings from each decade give a sense of what African American travelers could expect in Waterbury. It's important to note that there were numerous hotels and motels in Waterbury which were not included in the Green Book. The main hotels in Waterbury were for whites only until the 1950s. There are countless anecdotes about black celebrity entertainers who would perform in downtown Waterbury, but then have to either leave town or stay at a rooming house for the night, because they weren't allowed to stay in the hotels.

The Negro Motorist Green Book, 1938, page 2
Collection of The New York Public Library

The Negro Motorist Green Book, 1939, page 14
Collection of The New York Public Library

The Negro Motorist Green Book, 1947, page 32
Collection of The New York Public Library

The Negro Motorist Green Book, 1950, page 19

Collection of The New York Public Library

The Negro Travelers' Green Book, 1956, page 14
Collection of The New York Public Library

The Travelers' Green Book, 1961, page 23
Collection of The New York Public Library

Tourist Homes

I have been able to pull together brief biographies for a few of the Waterbury people with rooms for weary travelers listed in the Green Book. All were African American.

Mrs. J. Carter, 57 Bishop Street

"Mrs. J. Carter, 57 Bishop Street" was listed in the Green Book from 1938 through 1940.

57 Bishop Street was an apartment building. In 1939, residents included Washington Booker, L. Clark, Louis Knight, Cicero B. Booker, and Dallion Whittley.

John I. and Jessie D. Carter lived at 92 Pearl Street. Jessie Carter was born in New York in 1874. Her husband John was born in Virginia in 1882. John worked as a laborer in Waterbury's factories, while Jessie managed their home. Judging by the census records, the Carters rented out at least one room of their home to long-term tenants. I do not know if they owned 57 Bishop Street, or if they had just a portion of it which they rented out to travelers.

The Carters are buried at New Pine Grove Cemetery.

Photo from findagrave.com

Mrs. A. Dunham, 208 Bridge Street

"Mrs. A. Dunham, 208 Bridge Street" was listed in the Green Book from 1938 through 1951.

Bridge Street ran between the Abrigador (Holyland) and Scovill Manufacturing (now the Brass Mill Mall). It was eventually demolished to make way for I-84. During the 1930s, Bridge Street was home to a small community of African Americans who lived in apartment buildings on that street, including 208 Bridge Street.

Anna M. Dunham (1889-1958) was the wife of Arthur Ambrose Dunham (1892-1953). Arthur and his brothers came to Waterbury from Cedar, North Carolina during the early 1910s, when the factories were expanding rapidly to keep up with the demand for munitions and other materials created by World War I. Anna was born in Connecticut and presumably met her husband in Waterbury.

Arthur Dunham initially worked as a janitor before securing a job in the casting shop of one of the Waterbury factories. By 1915, Arthur and Anna Dunham were living at 208 Bridge Street with Arthur's mother and sister. Arthur and Anna had four daughters, Margaret (Marjory), Barbara, Arlene, and Helena, and one son, Arthur.

The Dunhams were members of the Pearl Street A.M.E. Zion Church. Anna was elected as the delegate for the church at the 1917 convention in Hartford.

During the Depression, Arthur Dunham worked for the WPA as a jackhammer operator. He later worked as a gardener for Emil Franz in Middlebury.

Some time around 1933, the Dunhams moved to the thriving Pearl Street neighborhood, and appear to have kept 208 Bridge Street as a rental property.

Mrs. M. Kefford, 99 Pearl Street

"Mrs. M. Kefford, 99 Pearl Street" was listed in the Green Book in 1938.

99 Pearl Street was an apartment building called The Ogden. The Kefford family lived at The Ogden and rented out rooms in their apartment.

The Keffords were among the most prominent African Americans in Waterbury during the 1920s and '30s. James E. Kefford moved to Waterbury from Vienna, Virginia during the early 1900s and quickly became a highly successful businessman. He was the general manager of Waterbury's Negro Business League, a co-founder of the Cheshire Country Club (quite possibly the first African American country club in the U.S.), and a real estate developer focused on creating quality housing for African Americans in Waterbury.

James Kefford and his wife, Mary, had three children, James, Mabel, and Gertrude. Mary Kefford died in 1932, which means she is not the "Mrs. M. Kefford" listed in the 1938 Green Book. Her daughter Mabel, by then divorced and living back home with her father, is presumably the "Mrs. M. Kefford" listed in the Green Book under her maiden name. Mabel moved to Detroit in 1938 or '39.

Mrs. B. Smith, 56 Pearl Street

"Mrs. B. Smith, 56 Pearl Street" was listed in the Green Book from 1938 until sometime between 1942 and 1944.

Rufus B. and Ida Smith lived at 56 Pearl Street beginning in 1923 or '24. They came to Waterbury from North Carolina, where they were born during the 1870s. Rufus worked as a porter/janitor in the main office of Scovill Manufacturing. Sometime around 1938, Rufus retired from his job, and the couple began renting out rooms in their home at 56 Pearl Street. Ida was the proprietor of the rooming house.

Hotels

There were four nonresidential lodgings in Waterbury listed in the Green Book over the years: the Jones Hotel, the Community House, the Elton Hotel, and the Putt Meadow Motor Court.

Jones Hotel, 64 Bishop Street

The Jones Hotel on Bishop Street was owned and operated by Mack R. Jones (born abt. 1868). The hotel was listed in the Green Book from 1939 through 1947.

Mack Jones and his wife, Sadie McNeil Jones (abt. 1867-1924) came to Waterbury from North Carolina during the early 1900s. They had at two sons, Joseph, born in North Carolina in 1890, and John, born in North Carolina in 1888.

The Jones family originally lived on Bridge Street in Waterbury, and Mack Jones started out working as a janitor at a manufacturing company, while his son Joseph worked as a butler for a private family and his son John worked as a private chauffeur (U.S. Census 1910).

In 1915, Mack Jones started up his own laundry business (The New York Age, 2 Sep 1915). John worked as a chauffeur for the laundry.

The family moved to 64 Bishop Street in 1919. In 1920, the census listed the Jones family sharing their home with three boarders, all of whom appear to have been employed in Mack Jones' laundry.

Sadie Jones died in 1924 and was buried at Old Pine Grove Cemetery.

Sadie Jones gravestone, Old Pine Grove Cemetery
Photo from findagrave.com

Mack Jones started his hotel on Bishop Street in 1925. A successful businessman, he was able to go on a three week tour of Canada shortly after the hotel opened (The New York Age, 18 Jul 1925).

The 1930 census lists Mack Jones as the proprietor of a hotel tea room, with his home (the hotel building) valued at $15,000 -- a significant amount of money for that era. His son Joseph worked as the tea room clerk. Three men were roomers with Jones; one of the roomers was the newly divorced Fabian McKinney (1873-1961), a successful real estate agent, WWI veteran, and was one of the founding members of the Cheshire Country Club and the G.K.P. Association, an exclusive men's club for Waterbury's leading African Americans.

In 1937, the Jones Hotel was one of only four hotels in Connecticut operated by African Americans. The others (as listed in the Negro Statistical Bulletin No. 17) were the Hotel Majestic and the Hotel Portsmouth in New Haven, and the Bladstone Hotel in Stamford.

The Jones Hotel was never included in the Waterbury City Directory listings of hotels, but it was included in listings of furnished rooms for rent.

Community House, 81 Pearl Street (later 34 Hopkins Street)

The Community House was listed in the Green Book from 1938 through 1967. It's better known in Waterbury as the Pearl Street Neighborhood House, located on the corner of Pearl and Hopkins Streets.

The Pearl Street Neighborhood House is a Waterbury legend, the heart of its neighborhood for decades. The Waterbury branch of the NAACP was founded there, and thousands of people gathered there for basketball, bowling, dancing, roller skating, tennis, indoor baseball and football, singing groups, sewing classes, and adult educational music and literary programs (Opportunity: The Journal of Negro Life, April 1930, p. 113).

The community house was run for its first decades by Mrs. Leila T. Alexander, whose biography can be found in the Waterbury Hall of Fame and the Connecticut History website.

Elton Hotel

After decades as a whites-only hotel, the Elton opened its doors to all people when it began appearing in the Green Book in 1950.

Advertisement in the Waterbury City Directory, 1952

Putt Meadow Motel, U.S. Highway 6-A

The "Putt Meadow Motel, U.S. Highway 6-A," was listed in the Green Book beginning in 1961. Known locally as Putt Meadow Motor Court, the motel featured a set of small cabins. It was located near the Wolcott border at 1500 Meriden Road, east of Pierpont Road.

Putt Meadow Motor Court was started in the early 1950s by Marion Pierpont (1907-2005), whose family had farmed land in the east end of Waterbury for generations (Marion P. Brown obituary, Hartford Courant, 15 Nov 2005). The Pierponts also operated Maple Hill Farm in Wolcott. Marion's sister Hazel (1903-1998) helped run the motor court (Hazel P. Jacoby obituary, Hartford Courant, 19 Feb 1998).

In 1962, Marion Pierpont got married and moved to Storrs. It appears from the Waterbury City Directories that the motor court was closed after this, although it continued to be listed in the Green Book for several more years. By 1968, the motor court had been replaced by an industrial park.