Exhibition Highlights Important Role Green Book Filled For Black Americans

WDCB’s Gary Zidek visits the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center to learn more about it’s latest exhibition, THE NEGRO MOTORIST GREEN BOOK.

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First published in 1936, THE NEGRO MOTORIST GREEN BOOK was an important resource for African-American travelers for three decades. Created by mailman Victor Hugo Green, the books were designed to help Black Americans navigate open discrimination that existed under Jim Crow laws in many states. The first guide focused on New York City, but soon the publication’s scope expanded to other parts of the country and then most of North America.

Artifacts on display in the Negro Motorist Green Book exhibition on display at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center.

A new exhibition, that recently went on display at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, is providing a deeper look at the impact of the Green Book. The traveling exhibition, developed by the Smithsonian, will be on display through April 23. Upon first glance, an exhibit about the Green Book might not seem like a fit for the Illinois Holocaust Museum. But Arielle Weininger, the chief curator of collections and exhibitions at the Skokie-based instituion says the themes and ideas explored in the exhibit align well with the museum’s overall mission.

A 1940 edition of the Green Book.

Weininger says there’s been a great response to the exhibition since it opened. She hopes visitors leave with a better understanding of a piece of American history and perhaps a little inspired.

The traveling Negro Motorist Green Book exhibition will be on display at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center through April 23. Go to ilholocaustmuseum.org for more information.