From 1936 to 1967, the Negro Motorist Green Book listed businesses and places, state

by state and city by city, where African American travelers could find welcoming services

and safe places to rest, eat, sleep, enjoy themselves, even buy gasoline and use the

bathroom.

While there were competitors, the Green Book, as it was commonly known, became the definitive

guide for black travelers seeking to, in the words of the guide's creator, Victor Hugo

Green, travel without aggravations and embarrassment.

I'm Alvin Hall, host and creator of the podcast series, Driving the Green Book.

Crit producer Janay Woods Weber and I took a road trip in 2019 from Detroit to New Orleans,

over 2,000 miles, to visit locations listed in the Green Book.

Along the way, we talked to people who patronize the businesses in the guide, who lived in

the surrounding neighborhoods, and who drove the local streets and highways of the United

States during Jim Crow and segregation.

We gathered first-person recollections and stories from some of the last living witnesses

for whom the Green Book was an essential survival tool.

In this bonus episode of the Driving the Green Book podcast, Janay and I talked to two

women whose families used the guide, and who were eye witnesses to the period of US history

presented in my 10 episode podcast, and my book, Driving the Green Book, a road trip

through the living history of black resistance, published by Harper One.

One of the many moving joys of giving talks around the United States about my podcast

series and book is meeting people who share with me their own or their family's experiences

with the Negro Motor Risk Green Book.

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