The Negro Motorist Green Book

In 1936, Victor Green had an entrepreneurial vision; with the “separate but equal” doctrine established by the 1895 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson still firmly in place, the Harlem postman recognized a particular need of African American travelers, especially those navigating the Jim Crow-era South: a guidebook. The travel guide, known as The Green Book, was published annually until 1967, and provided Black families with vital information about which restaurants, gas stations, department stores, and other businesses were open to African Americans, as well as lists of "sundown towns," or communities which did not allow Black people to stay overnight. 

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, along with historic footage, images, and oral history accounts. 

For the growing Black middle class, The Green Book became a necessary and even life-saving resource, used by many to survive in hostile regions well before the Civil Rights Movement gained traction. Similar to today's mutual aid networks, the guide is the result of Black individuals, entrepreneurs, and businesses—as opposed to the government—working together to guarantee safe passage for Black motorists. 

Thanks to exhibits like this one, and due to recent portrayals of The Green Book in contemporary pop culture, a new generation is learning about the impact of the book's oft-overlooked role in American history. Even in fiction, these plot narratives are each based on elements of truth; such as in the 2018 Academy Award-winning film Green Book, which depicts the racist treatment of a Black classical pianist on tour in the South; as well as in HBO’s 2020 television series "Lovecraft Country," a horror-drama whose protagonist embarks on a road trip across 1950s America with his uncle, the publisher of a Green Book-style travel guide. 

Sponsored by Capitol Park Museum