The Negro Motorist Green Book Exhibition

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The Negro Motorist Green Book is an exhibition developed by The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in collaboration with award-winning author, photographer and cultural documentary writer Candacy Taylor. Its contextual perspective shows the realities of African-American travel in the mid-twentieth century in the United States. The Negro Motorist Green Book is not just a travel guide. It is a shield that enables blacks to explore their world with a higher dignity than fear rather than gaining more dignity from embarrassment.[1]

The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) is located at :

470 L'Enfant Plaza East, SW

Suite 7103

Washington, DC 20024[2]

Victor Hugo Green

Victor Hugo Green is a postal employee and civic leader in Harlem, New York. He was born in New York on November 9, 1892, the eldest of three children of William H. and Alice Green. In 1936, Green wanted to do something about racial segregation in the United States. He considered to list all first-class hotels that cater to black people in the United States as comprehensively as possible. "He collected information about hotels, restaurants, and gas stations. These books served African Americans for his first edition of The Negro Motorist Green Book". Because some towns do not have any hotels or motels that can accommodate African Americans. American, so he listed "tourist houses" and the homeowner rented out the rent to travelers.

By 1949, the guide had included international destinations in Bermuda, Mexico and Canada. It lists places for food, lodging and gas stations. In 1952, Green changed the name to The Negro Travelers’ Green Book. Although Green died in 1960, publishing continued, and his widow, Alma, served as editor until 1966. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the legal end of apartheid in public facilities marked the beginning of the guide's obsolescence. Green’s goals described in the introduction to the first edition of the work.[3]

Background

The Negro Motorist Green Book was written by Harlem postman Victor Green in 1936. It is an annual guide designed to help African Americans in Jim Crow Laws, during the time of law and apartheid, travel to the country safely and with dignity. The Green Book is also an indispensable resource for the successful black-owned businesses of the era and the growing African American middle class. In this new immersive exhibition, walk into the reality of African Americans entering the mid-century.[4]

"Let's get together and make Motoring better". Green hopes to provide black drivers with all the services they need to make their travel as stress-free as possible. Green is a shrewd businessman, he also wants to provide a wide range of services to a wide audience. Reaching the black middle class means attracting people with different backgrounds and income levels. The black middle class includes black professionals, including doctors, clergy and teachers, business executives, business owners such as barbers and beauty shop operators, and well-trained porters: porters, food truck waiters and chefs. An organization like brothers.[5]

On its page, we can see all the information about restaurants, gas stations, motels, and in the end, high-end hotels, nightclubs, salons and other services that welcome Black travelers when so many companies are unwilling to do so. The Green Book helps black motorists to drive in a small town at sunset, where blacks cannot be seen on the road after dark. On the contrary, it brings joy to this land created for you and me.[6]

The publication of "The Green Book" ceased in 1967, and the guide that provided "travel without embarrassment" for many years was forgotten by history. Few people today remember its key role in expanding the horizons of African Americans.[7]

“Today, only about 5% of the more than 10,000 businesses listed in Green Books editions exist. The Lorraine Hotel in Memphis is one of them.” Historian Dr. Noelle Trent said that although it is no longer a motel, it is home to the National Civil Rights Museum.[8]

Exhibition

In this new immersive exhibition, walk into the reality of African Americans entering the mid-century. In the era of Jim Crow, the law and the communities of "Sunset Towns" (which specifically prohibited African Americans from staying overnight) provided vital life-saving information and shelters. The exhibition will not only focus on the success of many black-owned companies that have made these journeys possible; it will provide viewers with an opportunity to interact visually with people on the journey.[9]

The exhibition "The Negro Motorist Green Book" features film, photographs, art installations, interactive, historical documents from travelers and Green Book business owners; compares of Green Book sites then and now; historical objects from the Smithsonian and Green Book sites, such as a classic case of a Green Book, matchbooks, business signs, booklets, "sundown" signs, and historical records.[10]

"That is why it is so powerful that this exhibition is opening up at a green book site because they are symbols of refuge. They redefine sanctuary the agency of place and the story of race in America. We wanted to tell a story of that not only one of struggle. They symbolize Black ingenuity, resourcefulness, strength and entrepreneurship and resilience," –Candacy Taylor (Exhibition curator)

Reference

  1. LIGHTING THE WAYWHERE THE WAY IS DARK. www.negromotoristgreenbook.si.edu. Retrieved March 20, 2021
  2. About SITES. www.sites.si.edu. Retrieved March 20, 2021
  3. Harlem World Magazine. Harlem’s Victor Hugo Green’s The Green Book. August 11, 2020. www.harlemworldmagazine.com. Retrieved March 20, 2021
  4. The Green Book. www.civilrightsmuseum.org. Retrieved March 20, 2021
  5. Gretchen Sorin. The Negro Motorist Green-Book. 2010. www.academia.edu. Retrieved March 20, 2021
  6. Rudy Williams. 'The Negro Motorist: Green Book' makes first exhibition stop the Lorraine Motel, one of the travel guides many listings for Black travelers.. October 15, 2020. www.localmemphis.com. Retrieved March 20, 2021
  7. The Negro Motorist Green Book. www.sites.si.edu. Retrieved March 20, 2021
  8. Rudy Williams. 'The Negro Motorist: Green Book' makes first exhibition stop the Lorraine Motel, one of the travel guides many listings for Black travelers.. October 15, 2020. www.localmemphis.com. Retrieved March 20, 2021
  9. The Green Book. www.civilrightsmuseum.org. Retrieved March 20, 2021
  10. The Green Book. www.civilrightsmuseum.org. Retrieved March 20, 2021