GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - Local filmmakers are working with the family of an old, popular bar in Green Bay where a number of Packers hung out during the late 60s and early 70s.
It was a time just after segregation ended, when establishments wouldn’t even provide service because of someone’s skin color.
Known for its integrated crowd, “My Brother’s Place” on the east side of Green Bay was so popular that Packers historian Cliff Christl says it quickly became a hangout for Packers players.
“I went in as Dave Robinson. I didn’t go in there as a Green Bay Packer. The other bars allowed you in because you were a Packer,” says Hall of Famer and former Packer Dave Robinson
Christopher Whitcomb described how his parents’ bar gave the community a look at how the world was evolving.
“You tell me that’s 1968, 1969, 1970 Green Bay? You’re going to look at those pictures and say, ‘No. That looks like Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York City’,” says Whitcomb.
But not everyone was on board.
“My oldest brother, he got a lot of ridicule. Like, a lot of people didn’t want to, like ‘Your parents own the N bar’. That kind of thing, right? N Lovers,” says Whitcomb.
Even Hall of Famer Dave Robinson and his wife didn’t receive the warmest welcome when they first arrived in Wisconsin.
“’We don’t consider you Black. We wouldn’t let you in here. We consider you a Packer.’ And that upset my wife considerably,” says Robinson.
Now Chris, his brother Tim, and Robinson are working to retell that experience in a short film.
A documentary-style sizzle reel was first produced at the Main Street Bourbon Room, but the bar was actually across the street, and it’s under new ownership.
Though this bar closed back in 1978, it felt like a home away from home for Robinson.
“My Brother’s Place was a place where you could go in and feel like you’re home. Like, these are all my brothers. Teammates and brothers. White, Black, indifferent. And that’s what My Brother’s Place meant to us,” says Robinson.
A place where he can feel like a part of the community, rather than having someone accept him just for being a football player.
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