Larry Bleiberg, Special to USA TODAY
Published 7:01 a.m. ET Feb. 2, 2021
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For Black drivers during the Jim Crow era, taking a road trip was dangerous and complicated. That’s why the Negro Motorist Green Book, which listed restaurants, hotels and other businesses that welcomed African Americans, became known as the “bible of Black travel.”
Published from 1936 to 1967, the guides included more than 10,000 sites, but only about 3% still stand, says Candacy Taylor, author of “Overground Railroad.” And it’s important to visit them, she says. “It’s a chance to celebrate that they’ve survived. Reliving history through space is a really powerful way to gain understanding.”
The New York Public Library has digitized the guides, and Taylor’s book has inspired a traveling Smithsonian exhibit, displayed at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, through March 1 and then at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Taylor shares some notable Green Book sites with USA TODAY.
Trains made the Great Migration possible: They remain a connection for Black Americans.
Dooky Chase’s Restaurant, New Orleans
Taylor calls…
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