When the 'Green Book' was Vital for Black Travelers

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Road tripping in America has not been easy for all Americans. For African American travelers, the Green Book was a vital resource that allowed them to pass safely across America and avoid dangerous racial hatred and violence. The Green Book (also known as The Negro Motorist Green Book and The Negro Travelers’ Green Book) was published annually from 1936-1966 to assist black travelers in identifying welcoming accommodations, restaurants, and local businesses in otherwise hostile Jim Crow communities and the thousands of “sundown” communities across America that restricted African Americans after sundown.

It took courage for businesses to list their establishments in the Green Book and visual artist Candacy Taylor celebrates these brave proprietors in her aptly titled new book, Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America. Taylor is a multidisciplinary cultural documentarian whose research on the Green Book exists not only in captivating book form but also as a Smithsonian traveling exhibit that will be on display across the United States for the next three years. Taylor has been researching the Green Book since 2013 and has cataloged nearly 10,000 Green Book listings and photographed more than 170 Green Book properties, many of which are included in this fascinating collection.

Milwaukee will mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day by welcoming the award-winning artist Candacy Taylor to America’s Black Holocaust Museum (401 W. North Ave.) on Monday, Jan. 20 at 5:30 p.m. Her talk, which is co-sponsored by Boswell Book Co., is free and open to the public but pre-registration is requested. Attendees have the option of upgrading their registration to include a hardcover copy of Overground Railroad at a special price.