Ollie's Restaurant

Ollie’s Restaurant (also called Ollie’s Cafe and Ollie’s Place) appeared in the Green Book from 1947-1957 and 1959-1960.  Its location is unclear; the restaurant was listed at both 415 ½ S. 7th Street and 413 ½ S. 7th Street in Wilmington, North Carolina. Ollie’s was listed in the Green Book as “Ollie’s--415 ½ S. 7th St.” under the “Restaurant” section from 1947-1955 and as  “Ollie’s--415 ½ S. 7th St.” from 1956-1957 and 1959-1960. The shop was owned by Ollie Bynum Higgins.¹ 

Ollie Bynum was born in Richland County, South Carolina, in 1903. She married Elijiah Higgins, a farmer, in 1920, and the couple lived in South Carolina until the mid-1920’s, when Ollie moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. Elijah stayed behind in Richland County, and it appears that the couple remained separated for the rest of their lives.²

Ollie’s early years in Wilmington were spent working as a maid. She resided in various homes along Wooster and 7th streets in the late 1920’s and 1930’s. By 1940, Ollie had secured her own home, located at 413 ½ S. 7th Street, and she began to operate a cafe next door (at 415 S. 7th Street) in 1943. Ollie’s restaurant operated from the same building as Gertrude’s Beauty Parlor, another business listed in the Green Book. The owner of Gertrude’s and Ollie Higgins faced similar challenges; Gertrude Green had also separated from her husband and started a business to support herself. Ollie’s business partner, Norman Davis, was also a lodger in her home, along with several of Ollie’s cousins from South Carolina.³

Ollie’s was advertised as a “cafe and confectionary” with “quality food and refreshments, where friends meet.” Ollie moved the restaurant into her own home at 413 ½ S. 7th Street in the mid-1940’s, where it remained until 1959. The 1959 Wilmington city directory Wilmington shows Ollie Higgins working as a cook and residing at Cape Fear Memorial Hospital. She held this job until her death in 1975.⁴

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2019

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1947 Green Book, 66; Green, 1948 Green Book, 63; Green, 1949 Green Book, 57; Green, 1950 Green Book, 64; Green, 1951 Green Book, 55; Green, 1952 Green Book, 55; Green, 1953 Green Book, 55; Green, 1954 Green Book, 54; Green, 1955 Green Book, 54; Victor Green, 1956 Green Book, 47; Green, 1957 Green Book, 47; Green, 1959 Green Book, 52; Alma D. Green, 1960 Green Book, 74. 
2. 1910 United States Census, Lower Richland County, SC, digital image s.v. "Ollie V. Bynum," accessed from www.ancestry.com; Ollie Bynum and Elijah Higgins, Richland County, South Carolina, Marriage Index, 1911-2010, accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1920 United States Census, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, digital image s.v. "Olive Hagans," accessed from www.ancestry.com;  Hill’s Wilmington N.C. City Directory, 1926, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, street directory p. 17; 1930 United States Census, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, digital image s.v. "Ollie Higgins," accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1940 United States Census, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, digital image s.v. "Ollie Higgins," accessed from www.ancestry.com; Ollie Higgins, March 27, 1975, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina, Death Certificates, 1909-1976, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Ollie is listed as “widowed” in the Wilmington City Directory in 1952, 1956, and 1958, and is listed as widowed from Norman, Elijah, and Roger, respectively. It is not clear whether she had a romantic relationship with Norman Davis, who lived with her and served as her business partner, or whether she was later married to someone named Roger. 
3. Hill’s 1940 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory p. 201, street directory p. 501; Hill’s 1942 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory p. 310, street directory, p.1040; Hill’s 1943 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory pp. 184, 211, classified directory, p. 891, street directory, p. 100.
4. Advertisement in Hill’s 1956 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, p. 240; Hill’s 1956 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory pp. 145, 240; Hill’s 1958 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, pp. 168, 279; Hill’s 1959 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, p. 161, street directory p. 22; Ollie Higgins, March 27, 1975, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina, Death Certificates, 1909-1976, accessed from www.ancestry.com.