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The Negro Motorist Green Book

Nov. 2, 2024 - Mar. 2, 2025 | Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library

About the Exhibit

The Negro Motorist Green Book, an exhibition developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in collaboration with award-winning author, photographer and cultural documentarian, Candacy Taylor, offers an immersive look at the reality of travel for African Americans in mid-century America and how the annual guide served as an indispensable resource for the nation’s rising African American middle class and evidence of a vibrant business class. The companion exhibition, The Green Book in D.C.: “A Particular Place for Particular People,”  was produced by DC Public Library to complement the national, traveling exhibition by taking a deep dive into the stories of the more than 150 businesses and organizations right here in the District that were featured in The Green Book. A capsule version of this local history exhibit will be available at eight neighorbhood libraries around D.C.
 

Upcoming Events

The Negro Motorist Green Book

Opening Weekend Celebration

Saturday, Nov. 2 and Sunday, Nov. 3, 1 - 4 p.m. | Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library

Celebrate the opening of The Negro Motorist Green Book exhibit at DC Public Library with a weekend full of immersive activities, live performances, local history and more. 

  • Saturday, Nov. 2 | Get a first look at this exciting new exhibition with activities for all ages, including a children's sock hop, screenings of historic musical performances, a unique recreation of a Green Book era diner and an opportunity to meet representatives from organizations featured in the Green Book in D.C. exhibition.
  • Sunday, Nov. 3 | Enjoy a beautiful day at the MLK Library with a vintage car show that will bring to life the stories of how families traveled during the Green Book era, a throw-back 1960's Teenarama Dance party hosted by the African American Music Association and a variety of local food trucks.


Car from the Green Book

Guided Exhibit Tours

Wednesdays, 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Saturdays, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library

Dive into the stories of The Green Book with a guided tour of The Negro Motorist Green Book and its complementary exhibit The Green Book in D.C.: A Particular Place for Particular People. Tours are held four times weekly, on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. and on Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. At the end of the tour, visitors will be directed to additional displays and activities inspired by The Green Book throughout the library. Click the link above to sign up for a tour today.


The Green Book Guide to Freedom

Documentary Screening and Talkback | The Green Book: Guide to Freedom

Wednesday, Nov. 6, 7 p.m., Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library

In partnership with the Double Exposure Film Festival and the DC Public Library Foundation, learn how The Negro Motorist Green Book helped African-Americans navigate the roads of a segregated nation. Immediately following the film, join us for a conversation with documentary film director and screenwriter Yoruba Ruchen. 


The Watsons Go to Birmingham

Family Movie Day: The Watsons Go to Birmingham

Saturday, Dec. 1, 2 p.m. | Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library

Based on the bestselling book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, the film chronicles the ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, and how they are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

 

Green Book Sites of Washington, D.C.

Map of Washington DC

Between its debut in the Green Book and the guide’s final edition, D.C. became a bustling, majority-Black city, attracting Black travelers to galleries showcasing Black artists, a diverse restaurant and nightclub scene, glamorous hotels, and the fellowship of its growing Black middle-class community.

D.C.’s unique role as the nation’s capital meant opportunities for Black workers to earn family-sustaining wages in federal jobs, and federal laws furnished some sanctuary in the Jim Crow era. Many Black Americans visited family who had moved to D.C. during the Great Migration, or to explore tourist sites, including the National Mall, many of which were open to all.

However, traveling to, from, and within D.C. was difficult for Black Americans, and the Green Book offered an essential tool for safe and dignified journeys. Its pages listed more than 150 businesses and organizations supplying a spectrum of services—from Apex Beauty College to the “Ys”. Orbiting largely around Howard University, they formed a nexus of vibrant culture in an atmosphere of safety and security.

Learn more about the role of the Green Book at the Green Book in D.C. exhibit at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library and at a capsule version of the exhibit located at eight neighborhood libraries, including:

See D.C.'s Historic Green Book Locations

Research and Learn

Access Video

Stream world-class documentaries and award-winning educational films from HBO, PBS, BBC, History Channel, A&E, National Geographic, Ken Burns and other respected sources on topics like the Green Book and the Civil Rights Movement.

Dig DC

Dig DC is your portal to selected digital collections from The People's Archive. Find photos, maps, oral histories, local newspapers and more documenting the history of Washington D.C.

Black Freedom Struggle in the United States

Select primary source documents related to critical people and events in African American history. Learn more about the foundation of ongoing racial injustice in the U.S. – and the fights against it.

Historical Black Newspapers

This historical newspaper collection provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Coverage ranges between 1893 - 2010.

Ralph J. Bunche Oral Histories Collection on the Civil Rights Movement

700 transcriptions of interviews of individuals who made history in the struggles for voting rights, against discrimination in housing, for the desegregation of the schools, to expose racism in hiring, in defiance of police brutality, and to address poverty in the African American communities.

Ebony Magazine Archive

Ebony is one of the key African American magazines of the 20th century, covering 20th and 21st-Century current events, art, design, politics and culture, literature, advertising, and more. Their editorial philosophy is to “showcase the best and brightest as well as highlighting the disparities in Black life in the United States and worldwide”.

The Negro Motorist Green Book was created by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with Candacy Taylor and made possible through the generous support of Exxon Mobil Corporation.

The Arts & Exhibits Program is made possible in part through the generous support of the DC Public Library Foundation.

Green Book in D.C. was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.