Green Book Closing Programs

Published from 1936 to 1966, The Green Book was hailed as the “Black travel guide to America.” During this time when segregation was still legal, it was incredibly dangerous for Black citizens to travel because they could not eat, sleep, or buy gas at most white-owned businesses. The Green Book served as a comprehensive map with a legend that listed hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and other businesses that were safe for Black patrons. 

The traveling Smithsonian exhibition The Negro Motorist Green Book, on view at Capitol Park Museum through November 14, chronicles the African American traveler’s experience during this fraught period in history. The collection includes artifacts such as road signs and postcards, historic footage, images, and oral history accounts. Curated by award-winning author, photographer, and cultural documentarian Candacy Taylor, who is currently working on a multidisciplinary project based on The Green Book, the exhibition will be on tour through 2024. The museum has a slate of accompanying programs to encourage deeper interpretation of the exhibit as well.

As a business owner, it took courage to be listed publicly in The Green Book, and Taylor's 2020 bestselling book Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel celebrates the stories of those who published their names in the book. It shows the history of The Green Book, how we arrived at our present historical moment, and how far we still have to go when it comes to race relations in America. On Saturday, October 30, join the museum for a book club discussion and virtual appearance by Taylor herself from 11:30 am—12:30 pm. Copies of the book are free for participants and can be picked up from Red Stick Reads. 

For the museum's next Lunchtime Lagniappe—an ongoing series of brown bag talks hosted by Capitol Park Museum each month—the guest presenter will be G.A. Cuddy, author and president of The Cuddy Family Foundation for Veterans in New Orleans. While living in Boston earlier in life, Cuddy worked for a family restaurant business—the famed Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe in the city's South End—and wrote a book on the history of the establishment, entitled Where Hash Rules. Cuddy will focus his talk on the eatery's impact on race relations in Boston and beyond. The event is on November 10 at noon. 

Charlie's was founded in 1927 and its connection to The Green Book and The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters is robust. The union's Boston chapter was located above the restaurant and, as the Pullman Porters traveled the nation's railways, word spread to African Americans that they were welcome to dine at Charlie's: the only business listed in The Green Book that was not Black-owned. A well-known adage regarding the porters was that "Lincoln freed 'em and Pullman hired 'em." Many riding the rails would later add that "Charlie's fed 'em." 

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