‘THE GREEN BOOK’ SUBJECT OF EXHIBIT AT ILLINOIS HOLOCAUST MUSEUM

“The Negro Motorist Green Book” cover, 1947. Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center.
“The Negro Motorist Green Book” cover, 1947. Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center.

‘THE GREEN BOOK’ SUBJECT OF EXHIBIT AT ILLINOIS
HOLOCAUST MUSEUM

BY TIA CAROL JONES

“The Green Book” was used by Black families to navigate travel in the United States during the Jim Crow Era. It listed safe places for them to go as they traveled the highways and by ways.

The Negro Motorist Green Book Exhibit, which was developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in collaboration with Candacy Taylor, author, photographer and cultural documentarian, will be at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center between Sunday, Jan. 29th, throughSunday, April 23rd.

Arielle Weininger, Chief Curator of Collections & Exhibitions at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, described Taylor’s Book, “Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America,” as an in-depth book
about the creation of “The Green Book.” Through Taylor’s research, she has discovered more than 10,000 businesses that were included in the Green Book.

“It really is still an underknown story, which is why the Smithsonian and Candacy are here at the Illinois Holocaust Museum. We’re so pleased to be bringing this history to the
Chicago area. Chicago features very prominently, most specifically in Bronzeville and the businesses that were in Bronzeville,” she said.

Visitors can expect a very thorough introduction to what “The Green Book” was, who “The Green Book” creator Victor Green was and the areas that are covered by “The Green Book.” The exhibit is presented with the history of “The Green Book” and
an interactive feature that lets visitors plan their own trip. It also features objects from businesses that were listed in the travel guide, which Taylor collected, and large scale photographs
of Black people during the eras listed in the book on vacation and living their lives.

“There’s always this dichotomy in this exhibition of this really great joy and exuberance of the individuals that are shown in these photographs and the realities of the world of which they
were living during the Jim Crow Era, of all of the oppression, segregation, and violence they could be met with, and yet, still, these people wanted to travel and enjoy life and experience the joy of travel,” Weininger said.

On Thursday, Feb. 3rd, to celebrate the launch of the exhibit, a panel discussion will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Panelists include Yoruba Richen, Documentary Filmmaker; Natalie Moore, Author and Journalist; and Kihana Miraya Ross, African American Studies Professor at Northwestern University. Columnist and Reporter Laura Washington will serve as the moderator .

Weininger added that The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center is hosting the exhibit because at the core of what the Museum does, it teaches Holocaust history, it also looks at other issues of social justice, human rights violations, atrocities and genocides. “Through our programming and through our exhibition schedule, we try and move between deeper dives into Holocaust history, specifically, and broader into these issues of social justice. That’s why we’re bringing in “The Green Book” and we hope with these varied themes we address, with our programs and exhibitions, that we’ll draw
in the widest audience possible to learn about “The Green
Book,” but while they’re here, to maybe learn a little bit
more about Holocaust history,” she said.

The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center is
located at 9603 Woods Drive, in Skokie, Ill.  For more in -
formation about the Museum and its exhibits, visit h ttps://
www.ilholocaustmuseum.org.

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