Indexing Negro main streets: Black business directories and the development of urban spaces

Abstract This article examines how Black business directories from the Jim Crow era provide insight into Black communal life and urban citizenship. These directories offered guidance and legibility to inhabitants of the USA’s new ‘Negro main streets’, while also inscribing Black urban identities into the spatial syntax of modernizing American cities. An analysis of over 200 directories across four eras shows how these publications created a space for Black urban citizenship to develop by including practical information; by highlighting community leaders, property ownership and contributions to local taxes; and by urging voter registration and government lobbying. This research suggests that Black business directories are a rich resource for understanding Black urban history.