Green Book listings in South Dakota

Following are some notes on the places included within the Green Books, directories for “Negro Motorists” that guided them to businesses that were open to them in the midst of a segregated country–some places where there was explicit segregation by law, and everywhere else where people of color were still confronted with numerous business owners who created implicit segregation by practice and prejudice.

In 1962, “the [New York] Times cited a report by the Black Hills Civil Rights Committee in which the committee revealed ‘that 90 percent of the bars and barber shops and 30 percent of the restaurants and motels in Rapid City refuse to serve or accommodate Negroes.'” It was not until 1967 that the State of South Dakota passed a civil rights law that said “No person shall be excluded on account of race, color, religion, or national origin from full and equal enjoyment of any accommodation, advantage, or privilege furnished by public conveyances, theaters or other public places of amusement, or by hotels, motels, barber shops, saloons, restaurants, or other places of refreshment, entertainment, or accommodation” (Bernson and Eggers, “Black People in South Dakota History,” 266-267).

Using scanned books from 1938-1941, 1947-1957, 1959-1964, and 1966/1967 that have been posted online by the Smithsonian Institution’s transcription project and the New York Public Library, below are the South Dakota businesses that were part of the Green Book directories.

South Dakota Architects – W.F. Blatherwick, C.V. Booth, R.H. Booth

W.F. Blatherwick

Wilfred Francis Blatherwick was born in 1890 in Chattanooga, Tennessee to Wilfred F. Blatherwick and Mary Reckner.  In 1913, he graduated with a degree in architecture from the University of Illinois.  He did training as a draftsman in Vincennes, Indiana, and worked for a firm called Bausmith & Draine in Cincinnati in 1915.   Between 1918 and 1921, he moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  Before forming his first firm with George C. Hugill, W.F. Blatherwick worked as head draftsman and designer for prominent architectural firm of Perkins & McWayne.  Hugill & Blatherwick formed their firm in 1921 and set up offices in the Boyce-Greeley Building in downtown Sioux Falls. 

South Dakota Architects – Berg, Bjodstrup, and The Black Hills Co.

This post is the third in a series on architects (and some builders) who were residents of South Dakota in order to dig a bit into their lives and work.  Some made a bigger impact and/or left a better historical record than others, but we miss something if we only study the biggest names.  There are a handful that were only mentioned once and I can’t find anything else about them – maybe I’ll include them in a list at the end…  I’ll do my best to restrict these profiles to architects who are now deceased.  If any readers have additional information or corrections, please leave a note in the comments!

South Dakota Architects – Becklin, Benson, and Bentzinger

This post is the second in a series on architects (and some builders) who were residents of South Dakota in order to dig a bit into their lives and work.  Some made a bigger impact and/or left a better historical record than others, but we miss something if we only study the biggest names.  There are a handful that were only mentioned once and I can’t find anything else about them – maybe I’ll include them in a list at the end…  I’ll do my best to restrict these profiles to architects who are now deceased.  If any readers have additional information or corrections, please leave a note in the comments!

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Hans Becklin

Hans Becklin was a stone/brick mason in Vermillion who worked on the foundation of the E.H. Willey House and the First Baptist Church there.  Becklin was born in about 1846/1848 in Sweden and emigrated to the U.S. in about 1868.  In the 1880 census, he was recorded as a farmer living with his mother Lisa in rural Clay County (T94N, R51W).  He married in about 1885.  He was recorded as a brick mason in the census lists for 1900 and 1910.

E.H. Willey House, Vermillion, Clay County, South Dakota

South Dakota Architects – Alber, Albright, and Bartlett

I love historic places and I love pulling out details of the history of these places.  Contributing to this quirk (obsession) is my affinity for finding information and organizing it, in hopes that I or others may find the information useful when undertaking higher-level analysis.  I’ve demonstrated this in previous posts, and I would call out a few examples here, but it’s actually quite apparent in most of them…

Because I love historic places, information on their architects has been one of my obsessive projects.  This post will start a series on architects (and some significant builders) who were residents of South Dakota in order to dig a bit into their lives and work.  Some made a bigger impact and/or left a better historical record than others, but we miss something if we only study the biggest names.  There are a handful that were only mentioned once and I can’t find anything else about them – maybe I’ll include them in a list at the end…  I’ll do my best to restrict these profiles to architects who are now deceased.  If any readers have additional information or corrections, please leave a note in the comments!