Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America

FAIN: FZ-250483-17

Candacy Ann Taylor
Unaffiliated Independent Scholar (New York, NY 10027-6497)

A book about race in America focused on the Negro Motorist Green Book, a fascinating artifact of the Jim Crow era published by Harlem postal worker Victor Green between 1936 and 1966 and called the bible of African American automobile travel.

I am seeking support to fund the research and write a book based on the Negro Motorist Green Book. This was a travel guide that listed restaurants, hotels, barbershops, beauty parlors, taverns and service stations that were willing to serve black people during the Jim Crow era. It not only offered safety and convenience, it was a powerful tool for African Americans to persevere and literally move forward in the face of racism. The fact that we have Green Book buildings as physical evidence of racial discrimination is a rich opportunity to re-examine America’s troubled history of integration, black migration and the rise of the black leisure class. This book will enhance our understanding of American history, African American travel and African American business owners. This will be a ground-breaking book about race in America that will inspire and educate the masses about the struggle and triumph of literally and figuratively moving forward in America.

Media Coverage

Publisher's Weekly - Notable African American Titles list (Review)
Author(s): Calvin Reed
Publication: Publisher's Weekly
Date: 11/22/2019
Abstract: Notable African-American Titles: Fall 2019-Spring 2020
URL: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/new-titles/adult-announcements/article/81790-notable-african-american-titles-fall-2019-spring-2020.html

Associated Products

The Roots of Route 66 (Article)
Title: The Roots of Route 66
Author: Candacy Taylor
Abstract: America’s favorite highway usually evokes kitschy nostalgia. But for black Americans, the Mother Road’s lonely expanses were rife with danger. See full text in Files.
Year: 2016
Primary URL: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/the-roots-of-route-66/506255/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-110316
Format: Magazine
Periodical Title: The Atlantic

How the 'Green Book' Saved Black Lives on the Road (Article)
Title: How the 'Green Book' Saved Black Lives on the Road
Author: ALEXANDER NAZARYAN
Abstract: Article featuring my Green Book project.
Year: 2017
Primary URL: http://www.newsweek.com/2017/03/17/green-book-jim-crow-era-travel-guide-saved-black-lives-565430.html
Format: Magazine
Publisher: Newsweek

Preserving Green Book Sites (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Preserving Green Book Sites
Producer: Abbie Swanson
Abstract: The Negro Motorist Green Book was considered the “Bible of Black Travel,” a guide that clued African-Americans into safe roadside stops during Jim Crow. The Green Book listed more than 220 sites in LA alone, from restaurants and hotels to taverns and chicken shacks. Cultural documentarian Candacy Taylor is on a mission to document them all, coast to coast. She took our supervising producer Abbie Fentress Swanson to one of the sites still standing in South LA and discusses the importance of preserving these sites.
Date: 7/16/2016
Primary URL: http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/good-food/preserving-green-book-sites-shishitos-jackfruit-fake-shrimp
Format: Radio

A Resurgence of the Mother Road: Revitalizing Route 66 (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: A Resurgence of the Mother Road: Revitalizing Route 66
Writer: Jeffrey Brown
Producer: Jeffrey Brown
Abstract: I am interviewed in front of a Green Book site in Los Angeles' Skid Row district
Year: 2016

Writer highlights Route 66 safe havens for black travelers (Article)
Title: Writer highlights Route 66 safe havens for black travelers
Author: Russell Contreras
Abstract: Article featuring my Green Book project
Year: 2016
Primary URL: https://apnews.com/20a928d7ec354362aa4ad0e0c86842fa/writer-highlights-route-66-safe-havens-black-travelers
Format: Newspaper
Publisher: Associated Press

'A practical solution to a horrific problem': When even Los Angeles needed havens for black drivers (Article)
Title: 'A practical solution to a horrific problem': When even Los Angeles needed havens for black drivers
Author: CAROLINA A. MIRANDA
Abstract: A photo essay of my Green Book project
Year: 2016
Primary URL: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-candacy-taylor-green-book-20161020-snap-story.html
Format: Newspaper
Publisher: Los Angeles Times

Abandoned (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Abandoned
Writer: Rick McCrank (host)
Producer: Viceland TV
Abstract: I take the hosts of the show to Springfield, Missouri to tour a Green Book site and a drive-through cave on Route 66 that was once operated by the Ku Klux Klan.
Year: 2016
Format: Film

The Roots of Route 66 (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: The Roots of Route 66
Abstract: I was invited to speak to approximately 300 staff members at Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company about diversity in the workplace and the roots of racism on Route 66
Author: Candacy Taylor
Date: 05/12/2017
Location: Northwestern Mutual Insurance Headquarters in Milwaukee, WI

The Roots of Route 66 (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: The Roots of Route 66
Abstract: I gave a multimedia presentation at the Petersen Museum about the history of segregation on Route 66
Author: Candacy Taylor
Date: 11/10/2017
Location: Petersen Museum in Los Angeles, California

Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America (Book)
Title: Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America
Author: Candacy Ann Taylor
Editor: Howard W. Reeves
Abstract: The first book to explore the historical role and residual impact of the Green Book, a travel guide for black motorists Published from 1936 to 1966, the Green Book was hailed as the “black travel guide to America.” At that time, it was very dangerous and di cult for African-Americans to travel because black travelers couldn’t eat, sleep, or buy gas at most white-owned businesses. The Green Book listed hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and other businesses that were safe for black travelers. It was a resourceful and innovative solution to a horrific problem. It took courage to be listed in the Green Book, and Overground Railroad celebrates the stories of those who put their names in the book and stood up against segregation. It shows the history of the Green Book, how we arrived at our present historical moment, and how far we still have to go when it comes to race relations in America.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://www.amazon.com/Overground-Railroad-Green-Travel-America/dp/1419738178/ref=sr_1_1?crid=RG8VGYLNMR6B&keywords=candacy+taylor&qid=1573046635&sprefix=candacy+%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-1
Publisher: Abrams Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9781419738173
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

---