Credits: The Negro Travelers' Green Book, 1959. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library.
Started in 1936 by Harlem postman Victor Green, The Negro Motorist Green Book was a guide published over three decades that helped African Americans travel the country safely, and with dignity, during a time of Jim Crow laws and segregation. The Green Book was also an indispensable resource for the era’s successful Black-owned businesses and rising African American middle class.
The Negro Motorist Green Book — an exhibition developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in collaboration with award-winning author, photographer and cultural documentarian, Candacy Taylor — offers a visually immersive look at the reality of travel for African Americans in mid-20th century America. The Negro Motorist Green Book was more than a travel guide. It was a shield, empowering Black people to explore their world with more dignity than fear, more elegance than embarrassment.
Credit: Courtesy of the National Civil Rights Museum.
The Negro Motorist Green Book will launch a three-year national tour Oct. 3 at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. The museum is located at the former Lorraine Motel which was one of many businesses listed in the publication developed by Victor Green. The exhibition celebrates this legacy and will be on view at the Smithsonian Affiliate through Jan. 3, 2021. The Negro Motorist Green Book is made possible through the support of Exxon Mobil Corporation.
Credit: Courtesy of the National Civil Rights Museum.
Credit: Photograph courtesy HAL33. CC4.0 International License.
As part of its mission, the National Civil Rights Museum examines today’s global civil and human rights issues, provokes thoughtful debate and serves as a catalyst for positive social change.
— The Negro Motorist Green Book cover
Credit: Smitty's Esso Service Station, Courtesy Anthony M. Smith, Sr.The Emmy-nominated Smithsonian Channel documentary, The Green Book: Guide to Freedom explores some of safe havens included in the travel guide while sharing stories of struggle and indignity as well as opportunity and triumph.
Credit: [Four-young African American women standing beside a convertible automobile], ca. 1958. WANN Radio Station Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
— Victor Green
"The Negro Motorist Green Book", 1948 edition
The Negro Motorist Green Book was created by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with Candacy Taylor and made possible through the generous support of Exxon Mobil Corporation.
