Southside, Chicago, Illinois, 1941.
(Russell Lee. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Photograph Collection, Prints & Photographs
Division, Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsc-00256.)

A new exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution’s collection, opening this week at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, shows how Black American communities safely traveled and stayed connected through the Jim Crow era of segregation.

The exhibition, titled “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” opens at the museum on Saturday, Dec. 16.

The new exhibit showcases the travel guide — called the Green Book — which was first published in 1936 by Victor Green, a postal carrier from Harlem. For three decades, the guidebook helped African American communities safely travel the country during the Jim Crow era.

Many towns along the majority-white Bible Belt were known as  “sundown towns,” which were historically known for upholding racial oppression by threatening or harming Black people and other minorities if they didn’t leave their towns by sundown.

Known as “the bible of Black travel,” the Green Book was used to show where the sundown towns nationwide, and identified services and towns that were more friendly and inclusive for Black people to visit or stay — usually Black-owned or Black-friendly businesses — during the mid-20th century.

The Negro Motorist Green Book “provides valuable insights into a pivotal moment in American history, and we are proud to welcome it to our museum,” said Petersen Automotive Museum Executive Director Terry L. Karges, in a news release. “Visitors will have the opportunity to explore how significant this guide was in providing community and safer travel for the Black community for three decades, and how it helped shape our history.”

The traveling collection includes artifacts, photographs and personal accounts of the guidebook’s impact, according to the release. It also shows the growth and impact of Black-owned businesses across the U.S., museum officials said. It was developed by the Smithsonian Institution and Candacy Taylor, an award-winning author, photographer and cultural documentarian.

An original Green Book will be on display, along with signage from various Green Book locations, according to Jonee Eisen, Petersen’s associate curator.

“It’s a really vital part of American automobile history,” Eisen said.

Despite rising hate crimes and reports of prejudiced, “sundown towns” still existing in the U.S., Black travel has reportedly increased in recent years. In 2019, U.S. Black leisure travelers spent $109 billion on travel, according to MMGY Global marketing.

Eisen called the Negro Motorist Green Book exhibit a “celebration” of Black resilience in the face of segregation, and the thriving of Black-owned businesses that followed.

“It’s very positive, even though the subject matter is difficult,” Eisen, 51, said. “It’s a subject that we still struggle with today, the repercussions of that whole era of Jim Crow America. We’re still trying to deal with it and still trying to work out what to do about race relations in this country.”

“The Negro Motorist Green Book” opens at the Petersen Automotive Museum’s Armand Hammer Foundation Gallery on Dec. 16 through March 10, 2024.

The museum is located at 6060 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles. Admission for adults is $20, youth ages 12-17 are $13, children are $11, and seniors are $18.

For more information about the exhibition or to purchase a ticket, visit Petersen.org. A virtual exhibit is also available at negromotoristgreenbook.si.edu.