Last Chance to See the Black Motorist Experience Exhibit at the Freedom Center
Immerse yourself in the reality of travel for African Americans during the Jim Crow era with the “The Negro Motorist Green Book” exhibit at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
“The Negro Motorist Green Book” was a travel guide annually published by Victor Hugo Green from 1936 to 1966 outlining safe areas, businesses and hotels for Black Americans. At the start of his publication, Green wrote about businesses in New York, where he is from. However, he later expanded to include cities around the United States, including neighborhoods in Cincinnati.
The exhibit is a collaboration between the Smithsonian Museum and award-winning author and photographer Candacy Taylor, who wrote the book “Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America.” Taylor’s book delves into the historical and lasting impact of the travel guide on Black travelers.
“It addresses that pendulum of justice and how that’s been swinging back and forth over the decades, from the 30s to the present,” Taylor explained. “It looks at, you know, the different social and government forces that were at play; we imagined and renegotiated the space and what racism looks like and how that plays out in our culture.”
Taylor has studied and written about the “Green Book” for ten years, during which time she traveled to 7,000 of Green’s locations in 48 states. Yet, her discovery of the travel guide was purely accidental.
While working on a piece on Route 66, her research led her to a surprising discovery: most travel guides for famous routes were written by white men. This finding pushed her to question how Black Americans traveled during the 1900s when she stumbled upon Green’s publication in 2013.
Since then, she has had two fellowships, one at Schomburg Center and the other at Harvard, where she was able to further her research. The exhibit with the Smithsonian Museum was first launched in 2020.
“[The exhibit] has more geographical focus on what was happening in different regions of the country. It celebrates black entrepreneurship and these vibrant communities,” said Taylor. “I think we thought it was really important to show the distinction between today and yesterday around, you know, black resilience and what it meant to travel.”
With “The Negro Motorist Green Book” exhibit, Taylor hopes visitors can not only leave understanding the hardships Black Americans faced but also be able to celebrate the community’s perseverance.
“No matter what race they are, you know, whoever goes to see the exhibition, that they find a new layered dimension to what blackness is and that can be celebrated,” Taylor said.
In the near future, Taylor plans to release a mobile app that shows existing Green Book locations throughout the US. She also hopes to include unique experiences at varying locations to teach visitors of its history. The app is set to be released sometime in 2026.
The exhibit is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (the latest entry is 4:30 p.m.) Wednesday through Sunday and will end on Oct. 13. To purchase tickets, visit https://freedomcenter.org/visit/plan-your-visit/.
