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COMPASS

When you traveled with The Green Book you found community wherever you went, and Black citizens coming together to eat, dance, talk, shop, and relax. The Green Book pointed the way to a Black experience not on the mainstream horizon, but it was there real, alive, and thriving.

Compass
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NORTH
Shearer Cottage guests
SHEARER COTTAGE
Oak Bluffs, MA
Gathering Outside of Shearer's Cottage, ca. 1931. Credit: Courtesy of Martha's Vineyard Museum and Lee Van Allen.
Idlewild train stop
IDLEWILD
Idlewild, Michigan
Family Beneath Idlewild Sign. Credit: Lake County Historical Society, Baldwin, Michigan.
Chicago Perfect Eat Shop
Bronzeville
Chicago, IL
In the Perfect Eat Shop, a restaurant on 47th Street near South Park, owned by Mr. E. Morris. Chicago, Illinois, 1942. Credit: Jack Delano. Library of Congress, LC-USW3-001469-D.
Robbins Airstrip
Robbins Airport
Robbins, IL
Robbins Airstrip, 1933. Credit: Thornton Studios. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM 87-15492).
Savoy menu
The Savoy
Harlem, NY
Souvenir Card for The Savoy, 1926-1958. Credit: Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library.
Smalls Exterior
Smalls Paradise
Harlem, NY
Photograph of a small party of people at Small's Paradise in Harlem, after 1925. Credit: Leslie E. Bigham. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Lenox Lounge
Lenox Lounge
Harlem, NY
Lenox Lounge, 2009. Credit: Lenox Lounge, 2009. Courtesy of Ryan Davis.
SOUTH
Charlie's Place Interior with Staff
Charlie’s Place
Myrtle Beach, SC
Charlie’s Place Credit: Jack Thompson. All Rights.
Dooky Chase old restaurant
Dooky Chase
New Orleans, LA
Dooky Chase Restaurant. Credit: Courtesy the Edgar "Dooky" Jr. and Leah Chase Family Foundation.
Albertas Hotel
Alberta’s Hotel & Snack Shop
Springfield, Missouri
Photograph of Alberta’s Hotel, 1955. Credit: Elizabeth Logan Calvin for Alberta Ellis's family.
Carrs Beach
Carr’s Beach
Chesapeake Bay, MD
Carr’s Beach, the Hoppy Adams Show, 1956. Credit: WANN Radio Station Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Haugabrooks headshot
Haugabrooks Funeral Home
Atlanta, GA
Photograph of Ms. Geneva Haugabrooks. Haugabrooks Funeral Home listed in the Green Book was located on Auburn Street in Atlanta. In 1929, Haugabrooks opened the business with only $300, and kept it going until 1977. She operated with a single hearse and a small number of employees and is recognized as one of the pioneering African American businesswomen in Atlanta. Credit: Courtesy of a private collection.
Amusement Center at Night Atlantic Beach
Atlantic Beach
Myrtle Beach, SC
Amusement Center at Night, Atlantic Beach. S.C., ca. 1930-1945. Credit: The Tichnor Brothers Collection, Boston Public Library.
AG Gaston Hotel
A. G. Gaston Motel
Birmingham, AL
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph Abernathy outside A.G. Gaston Motel, 1963. Credit: Birmingham Police Department. Birmingham, Ala. Public Library Archives.
VKBP Beach Scene Circa 1960's
Virginia Key Beach Park
Miami, FL
Virginia Key Beach Park Shoreline, ca. 1950s. Credit: Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, Miami, FL www.virginiakeybeachpark.net/.
Modjeska Simkins House
Motel Simbeth
Columbia, SC
Modjeska Simkins co-owned Motel Simbeth, a Green Book site from 1956 to 1961 in Columbia, South Carolina. The motel’s motto was: “Rest for the weary on this side of the Jordan.” Credit: Photograph by Candacy Taylor.
The Ben Moore Hotel
The Ben Moore Hotel
Montgomery, Alabama
(In honor of assassinated Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers) March to Protest Violence Against SNCC-led Protestors, Montgomery, 1965. Credit: Bob Adelman. ©Bob Adelman Estate.
Malden Bros
Malden Brothers Barbershop
Montgomery, Alabama
Malden Brothers Barbershop, Montgomery, Alabama. A meeting place for activists including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Credit: Courtesy of Nelson Malden.
WEST
Little boy holding gas nozzle
Threatt Filling Station
Threatt Filling Station wasn’t listed in the Green Book, but this Black family-owned gas station served Route 66 motorists from 1915 to the 1950s. Located in Luther, Oklahoma, before passing through the sundown town of Edmond, Oklahoma. Credit: Courtesy of the Threatt Filling Station Foundation.
Ebony Murrays Dude Ranch Cover
Murray’s Dude Ranch
Victorville, California
California Dude Ranch, February 1947. Credit: David Stern. EBONY ® Magazine. Negro Digest Publication Company, Inc. published EBONY ®, February 1947. Courtesy of EBONY Media Operations, LLC.
Jacks Basket Performers
Jack’s Basket Room
Los Angeles, California
Performers at Jack's Basket Room, Los Angeles, 1949. Credit: Charles White. Courtesy of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center at California State University, Northridge.
Cliftons Interior Postcard
Clifton’s Cafeteria
Los Angeles, California
Clifton's Cafeteria postcard, ca. 1939. Credit: Security Pacific National Bank Photo Collection/Los Angeles Public Library.
Rossonian
The Rossonian
Denver, Colorado
The Rossonian was listed in the Green Book from 1939 to 1955. It was a landmark hotel and jazz club in Denver, Colorado. Credit: Photograph by Candacy Taylor.
Dunbar Exterior
The Dunbar Motel
Los Angeles, California
Dunbar Hotel, 1987. Credit: Guy Goodenow, Los Angeles Herald Examiner Photo Collection/Los Angeles Public Library.
Ambassador Crowd
Ambassador Hotel
Los Angeles, California
Nat King Cole Anniversary, Los Angeles, 1962. Credit: Harry Adams. Provided by the Harry Adams Photograph Family Archive. Courtesy of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center at California State University, Northridge.
Gates family
Gate’s Bar-B-Q
Kansas City, Missouri
Gates Family. Ol’ Kentuck Bar-B-Q was one of the few Black-owned chain restaurants in the Green Book. The family business is still operating today as Gates Bar-B-Q in Kansas City, Missouri. There are currently six locations in Kansas and Missouri. Credit: Courtesy of Gates Bar-B-Q.

Image Credits:

[Bird’s eye view of West 12th Street, Harlem, looking west from Seventh Avenue], 1943. Photographs and Prints, Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library.

[Segregation in Albany - Street Scenes]. Warren K. Leffler. Library of Congress, LC-U9-8339- 37.

[In front of Pilgrim Baptist Church on Easter Sunday, South Side of Chicago, Illinois], 1941. Russell Lee. Library of Congress, LC-USF33-013000-M2.

Jack's Basket Room, Los Angeles, 1949. Charles White. Courtesy of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center at California State University, Northridge.

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.

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