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

by Candacy A. Taylor

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 difficult 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. 

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, Travel, Politics, Social Justice, Audiobook

360 pages, Hardcover

First published January 7, 2020

About the author

Candacy Taylor is an award-winning author, photographer and cultural documentarian working on a multidisciplinary project based on the Green Book. Taylor is the author of Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America (Abrams Books). She is also the curator and content specialist for an exhibition that will be toured by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) starting in June 2020. The exhibition will travel throughout the United States for three years.

Taylor was a fellow at the Hutchins Center at Harvard University under the direction of Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and her projects have been commissioned and funded by numerous organizations including, The Library of Congress, National Geographic, The American Council of Learned Societies, The National Endowment for the Humanities, The National Park Service, and The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Taylor’s work has been featured in over 50 media outlets including The Atlantic, CBS Sunday Morning, The Guardian UK, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Newsweek, PBS Newshour and The Wall St. Journal.

Reviews

[Kusaimamekirai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Living in Japan for the past decade or so, I always find it difficult to express to people what life was and is like for black men and women in America. There is always a kind of shock and horror at the endemic racism in America’s history and that it lives on even after a black president.
At this point I’m often asked, “How did people survive under these conditions? How did they have families and lives?”
Not having lived through some of the truly horrible history, I can only imagine that one develops coping mechanisms to deal with the everyday horror. One learns where and where not to go and what to do if all else fails.
“Overground Railroad” is a fascinating book that deals with one particular way black people dealt with the very real danger of being black in America while trying to live the semblance of a normal life.
In 1936, US postal worker Victor Green would publish the first in a series over more than two decades of travel books called “The Negro Traveler’s Green Book”. It was not the first of its kind but it was unique in its thoroughness and ubiquity in the lives of those who used it. Filled with black friendly hotels, restaurants, and entertainment spaces, the Green Book was much more than simply a travel guide. It was in a very real sense a lifesaver when driving through unfamiliar areas. “Overground Railroad” is filled with anecdotes, particularly from the author’s stepfather, about instances where travel was deadly serious and not knowing where was safe could have disastrous consequences. Right from the beginning we are told a story of the police pulling over her stepfather in an unfamiliar Southern town:


“ ‘Don’t you dare say a word’ Ron was sitting in the back seat as his father pulled the car to a stop at the side of the road. His father had told him to be quiet before, but this was the first time Ron felt the words reverberate to the pit of his stomach. Moments later, the sheriff stood over the well-appointed 1953 Chevy sedan complete with all the modern features you read about in the magazines.
‘Where did you get this vehicle? What are you doing here? And who are these people with you?’ the sheriff asked.
Ron’s father answered, It’s my employer’s car. He pointed to his wife, sitting upright and expressionless in the passenger seat. He pretended that she wasn’t his wife and said, ‘This is my employer’s maid, and that is her son in the back. I’m taking them home. The sheriff took a long, hard look at Ron’s mother and then angled his eyes to the back seat. A young Ronald sat tight-lipped, too afraid to turn his head or even take a breath. ‘Where’s your hat?’ the sheriff barked at Ron’s dad.
‘Hanging up right behind me in the back seat, officer.’ The sheriff waved. ‘All right. Move on.’
As they drove north across the Tennessee border, a sad, eerie silence hung in the air. The jovial conversation they were having right before the sheriff pulled them over had stopped dead. And although there was no discussion about what had just happened, the gravity of the situation was clear. Ron watched Daddy and Mama exchange knowing glances and then turned his head to look at the black, unassuming cap that had been hanging next to him in the back seat ever since he could remember. It wasn’t until that moment that he realized why he had never seen his father wearing it. Mama wasn’t a maid, and Daddy wasn’t a driver. He had a good job with the railroad, and this was their family car. Until that day, Ron never paid attention to that cap, but now he realized that it wasn’t just any hat. It was a chauffeur’s hat. A ruse, a prop, a lifesaver.
During the Jim Crow era, the chauffeur’s hat was the perfect cover for every middle-class black man pulled over and harassed by the police. If Ron’s father had told the sheriff the truth that he was driving his own car and that they were a family on vacation the sheriff wouldn’t have believed him. He would have assumed the car was stolen. In the event that the sheriff did believe it was Ron’s father’ s car, the rage and jealousy he might have felt at the thought of a black man owning a nicer car than a police officer might have triggered a beating, torture, or even murder. From that day on, Ron noticed these hats strategically placed, like unarmed weapons, in the back seat of nearly every black man’s car.


With stories like this being part of everyday life, perhaps it is no wonder that Green would always append the tag live to his guide “Carry your Green Book with you-you may need it”. It was no idle suggestion.
Despite the ever present dangers to black travelers and that vaguely ominous sentence however, the Free Book did not trade in fear. Along with the listings travelers would need on the road, the guide was often filled with articles about upwardly mobile black men and women, the latest in cars and household appliances, and generally celebrating a good life. It was also for most of its life generally apolitical until its later editions in the 1960s.
As the author attempts to visit many of the sites however, she discovers that most of them have either fallen into disrepair or long since been destroyed. Taylor ties this in brilliantly to the seeming unquenchable desire to establish white historical landmarks while black ones are more often than not ignored or destroyed. Looking at the broken communities today where many of these sites once stood, it is hard not to feel despondent, if not angry, that two different Americas have been allowed to exist side by side for so long. As she points it, this degradation in black communities was by design. Be it through the practice of ‘redlining’ where real estate agents specifically underlined properties that were not to be rented or sold to blacks (she references James Loewen’s research into this practice in his fantastic book “Sundown Towns”. I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in this), or the interstate highway system built in the 1950’s which ruthlessly bisected black communities while leaving white ones intact.
As she writes:

“So, when we look at places such as Chicago and wonder why there is so much violence there, perhaps that is the wrong question. Given this history, why would we expect it to be any different? If you have two plants and you give one everything it needs (sunshine, food, and water) and barely water the other one, you won’t expect the neglected plant to be as robust as the one that received nourishment, kindness, and attention. From this perspective, isn’t it obvious that the flagrant neglect by state and federal governments bears significant responsibility for the dire condition of inner-city neighborhoods throughout America?”

Looking at America in 2020, it is difficult to argue with her thesis. While there is no longer a need for a “Green Book”, it is clear with police brutality, discrimination in housing, and the resegregation of schools, that America remains a country that has yet to live up to its ideals for all of its citizens.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Carry your Green Book with you . . . you may need it!" -- the admonishment often listed on the cover

About a year ago a film called Green Book (starring Mahershala Ali, an actor who is lately receiving a lot of well-deserved accolades; I thought he was just outstanding in the third season of HBO's True Detective anthology series) was released in theaters. I had no idea what the title meant, and I have not yet had a chance to watch the acclaimed film. But it spurred me on to select Taylor's Overground Railroad: The Green Book & Roots of Black Travel in America from my local library's new release shelf.

Sometimes it's kind of amazing about the relatively recent but little-known / remembered or forgotten history a reader can learn about via a book. For thirty years - 1936 to 1966, with only a break during WWII - a mail carrier named Victor Green self-published an annual advisory guide for African-American travelers in the era where vacationing by automobile became more commonplace with the early state routes and highways. His 'The Negro Motorist Green Book' (meaning both his surname and the color of ink used on the covers) listed establishments - hotels, restaurants, taverns, night clubs, repair garages, dry cleaners, hair care, etc. - that were often owned by and would cater to customers of African-American descent. His intent was to assist in safe travel and promote friendly enterprises in that less-enlightened time of 'whites only' postings and Jim Crow laws.

Author Taylor does an excellent job documenting and detailing a number of the businesses and the involved personalities (I would love to have a conversation with the motherly Ms. Leah Chase - who is still with us at 97 years old - about the time Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall had a strategy meeting/dinner at her New Orleans diner) that simply no longer exist for many reasons. There are also numerous historical and current-day photographs of the locations and folks. Much less interesting were the author's politics and beliefs which begin to grind on me because it felt like being lectured. I thought it became heavy-handed at times as I did not agree with all of her opinions.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Between 1936 and 1966 a guide called the “Green Book” was published to assist black people in finding accommodations when traveling in America. Through most of this time, it was published by Victor Hugo Green, a postal worker from Harlem. The fact that such a guide was needed is shameful, but without it there would not have been a way to find food, housing, gas or bathrooms in most of this country. The book featured black-owned businesses and black-friendly ones. This was no small task considering the prevalence of segregation. We shouldn’t be under the impression that this was a “southern problem”, many businesses on 125th Street in Harlem refused to serve negroes. “A huge concern for black motorists was getting stranded in a ‘sundown town’, an all-white enclave that banned black people from entering after dark.” “...sundown towns were largely a northern construct, starting in about 1890 and lasting well into the 1960s in fact, he found hundreds of sundown towns in Illinois alone.” Sometimes drivers would have to travel hundreds of miles to find accommodations. They knew to bring food, water and camping equipment if they were traveling on Route 66.

This book is wonderfully thorough. The author actually traveled to the “Green Book” sites. It is arranged chronologically so it permits the author to trace social progress. “By the 1960s “...the ‘Green Book’ had grown from a ten-page pamphlet to a 128-page book. And although it was still sold at Esso stations, it could be purchased also on newsstands and in Gimbels department store in New York City. By the 1960s, the ‘Green Book’ had subscribers from all over the world, including Canada, Mexico, the West Indies, England and West Africa.” The vibrancy in the listings seemed to diminish when they were redesigned in 1956. Some types of listings disappeared, like music venues, gas stations, drugstores, hair salons and sanitariums. The “Green Book” was then more like a AAA travel guide. The 1963-64 edition published an article that outlined anti discrimination laws for 30 states, provided information for what recourse readers had if they were refused service or treated poorly and listed every US Civil Rights Commission office by state. “This is not a book about the history of road-tripping and black travel. It’s more of a pilgrimage toward understanding a country so blinded by symbolism that it can’t or won’t tackle the pervasive, relentless forces that created the environment for the “Green Book” to thrive in the first place. It is a book that I hope will show how we got here and why, after all this time, we still have so far to go.”

There are so many interesting tidbits here. I bet you don’t know who patented the first golf tee. It was George Grant, an African American dentist in 1899. The book has a picture of the patented tee. Also, many black men kept a chauffeur’s cap in their cars, so when the police pulled them over they could claim that they were driving their employer’s car. Otherwise, the cop would either assume that if a negro was driving a nice car either the car was stolen or that the driver was uppity for having dared to own a car better than the cop owned, either way a beating was likely to ensue. My, how times have changed. The cap trick doesn’t work anymore.

There are lots of pictures in this book (including a picture of every cover other than the first one). I have ARCs of both the physical book and the audiobook so I got to see the pictures. I really hope that the final version of the audiobook comes with a pdf. The narration by Lisa Reneé Pitts of the audiobook was excellent.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sobering look at a sad time in our history by Candacy A. Taylor recounts the history of the Green Book and its place in the lives of Black travelers whi could not rely in finding reliable services along their travel routes. The reality of this is sobering. The photographs included are fascinating. Recommended.

[Greta Samuelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was privileged NOT to know of “The Green Book”, a travel guide for African Americans from 1936-196, until reading Candacy Taylor’s well researched book.

Think of an old AAA guide with places to eat, hotels to stay at and roadside attractions for your family road trip - but the Green Book was more a a survival guide telling black families what towns NOT to drive through (for their own protection), what hotels would “allow” black families to rent a room to stay for the night, even where they could stop and fill up their gas tanks!

I am not blind to the fact that Jim Crow laws were in effect for most of the 20th century even after the Civil Rights Act in 1964. I was sadly surprised by the covert racial and socioeconomic segregation that continues even today.

I recommend that you read rather than listen to this one as there many historical photos that I enjoyed while reading and learning more about our America History.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

full post here: http://www.nonfictionrealstuff.com/20...


This book is a must read. An absolute must read.

I'd first heard of the Green Book while reading Matt Ruff's novel Lovecraft Country a couple of years back. In the novel, set in the 1950s, one of the characters was the editor/publisher of something called The Safe Negro Travel Guide. I remember at the time thinking what a crap thing it was that something like The Safe Negro Travel Guide had to even exist, and wondering if there was some underlying truth to it I looked it up, and sure as s**t there it was, The Negro Motorist Green Book. I was appalled, actually, a) that this was a real thing and b) at my own ignorance -- I had no clue that it existed.

However sad the fact of its existence, it turned out to be, as author Candacy Taylor notes, "an ingenious solution to a horrific problem," representing "the fundamental optimism of a race of people facing tyranny and terrorism."

In Overground Railroad, the author (who has visited over four thousand Green Book sites, and provides some of the photos she's taken in the book) offers an across-the-decades overview of the Green Book, published from 1936-1967, setting her work within both historical and geographical contexts of American history. In doing so, she examines racism and other forces at work in this country that led to the necessity of creating such a guide. Victor Green, who founded the Green Book in 1936, most likely made no money from it, but as the author notes,

"his reward was much more valuable than money, because for every business he listed, he may have saved a life."

As she also states, "real change can come from simple tools that solve a problem," which is what made the Green Book so powerful.


What Henry Lewis Gates, Jr. says about this book on the back-cover blurb sort of sums it all up:

"If 'making a way out of no way' is a theme that runs throughout African-American life, few things encapsulate that theme more powerfully that the Green Book. A symbol of Jim Crow America, it is also a stunning rebuke of it, born out of ingenuity and the relentless quest for freedom."

It is unforgettable, compelling and a book that is not only beyond relevant but also critical reading in our own times, one that should be on the shelves of every library everywhere including the one in your home. It is worthy of winning any book award nomination that may come its way.

Brava, Candacy Taylor, just brava.

documentary:
https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/sh...

available on the Smithsonian Channel or via Amazon prime video.

[Bonnie DeMoss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this was not as expected. I thought it was about the history of the Green Book and stories of the brave business owners who opened their doors to people of color, even when they were taking a risk to do so. There is a little bit of that in the book. But the author spends a lot of time on current political topics and their opinion of the President. I have been avoiding current political books and reviews by choice, so I don’t like it when a political book is represented as something else.

I did appreciate the author's well written description of what it was like to live under the Jim Crow laws, and the horrific treatment of black people during that time. Unfortunately she kept referring back to 2020 politics constantly. If I had been warned this was a book about current politics I would have passed it by.

There was a period of almost 30 minutes early in the book that was strictly about current politics, and I almost stopped listening at that point. This book was not really as described, but is well written and will appeal to others who don't mind all the current political commentary. The narrator of the audiobook did a good job.

I received a free copy of the audiobook via Netgalley. My review is voluntary.

[Cam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and informative book to read. I learned about things I never thought about reading the book.

Green Book was hailed as the “black travel guide to America.” At that time, it was very dangerous and difficult 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.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to learn more about The Green Book, and how it was used by Black travelers. This well-written and well-researched history covers it from the first annual issue to the final issue. The author also includes photos of the places listed in The Green Book, some of which are still standing. My basic Kindle didn't show the photos as well as the newer e-readers do. Anyway, I enjoyed reading about the dedicated editors and writers who put a new issue out each year. The author does a good job of providing the reader with the civil rights and race relations backstory going on each year. If you like Black history, this book is worth reading.

[Kimba Tichenor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published from 1936 to 1966, the Green Book was a travel guide for African Americans, providing potentially life-saving information about at what restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, tourist sites, countries, auto dealers, and even colleges they would be welcomed. Author and documentarian Candacy Taylor uses the history of the Green Book as a gateway into a much larger story about how black bodies in the United States have been surveilled, censured, and violated since the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves. Drawing on interviews, archival documents, newspapers, and of course the Green Book, she offers a powerful indictment of the legacies of institutional racism: decades of government indifference and disinvestment, red lining and the devaluation of black real estate, a modern policing and prison system that evolved from slave patrols, and years of unequal schools. But what makes this narrative truly compelling is its seamless incorporation of firsthand accounts of what it meant and means to be black in the United States. For example, the book opens with a testimonial by the author's stepfather Ron of what it was like to travel as an African American in the 1950s. A small boy at the time, he vividly recalls one night when his family was pulled to the side of the road by a sheriff. Suddenly a trip that had been filled with joy turned into a nightmare as the sheriff inquired of his father, "Where did he get that car?" The fully-loaded 1953 sedan belonged to his father, but his father knew better than to claim ownership. Instead, he answered that it was his employer's car and that he was a hired driver. He was taking home his employer's maid and her son. The sheriff then asked, "Where's your chauffeur's cap?" And at that moment the father pointed to a cap on a hook just behind the driver's seat -- something that the young Ron had seen in the car but never really understood its presence. Now, he realized that it was a prop, carried specifically for the purpose of ensuring his family's safety when out on the road. These types of stories found throughout the book ensure that the reader never forgets that the abstract concept of institutional racism has real world consequences for individuals of color, who like their white counterparts, have dreams, goals, aspirations, and human dignity, but who because of the color of their skin don't have the same opportunities to realize them.

The narrator for the audio version of this book does an impeccable job. This is no small feat given the book runs the gamut from historical narrative to personal horror stories to moments of humor. Through the intonation of her voice, she communicates the author's impassioned plea for change and the moments of humor and horror, while at the same time using a more objective tone to communicate the historical arc of the Green Book's evolution over the years and how ironically integration, for which African Americans had fought so hard, inadvertently led to the demise of many of the businesses that advertised in the Green Book.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Never Without a Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B685NFrAD...


This is a MUST READ.

[Jessica Haider · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is important to learn from history to get a better understanding of where society is at today. The year 2020 has helped shine a spot light on our continued need for equal treatment of all people. Overground Railroad talks about a very specific niche of Black history in America. Starting in the 1930's and continuing for several decades, the Green Book was published letting Black travelers know which businesses supported and welcomed Black people. This was important in a time when Jim Crow was very much still in effect and Sundown Towns were a thing. Black people could have been in danger if they wandered into the wrong town after dark.

The author did an excellent job of relaying the history of the Green Book and how it related to the cultural landscape at the time. I highly recommend this book to American History buffs or anyone interested in doing some anti-racist reading.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was engaging and definitely captured my attention throughout.

Thank you to the publisher for the audio book in exchange for an honest review!

[Naia Pard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This audiobook was given to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
When I first read the title, I was a little uneasy because I thought that I will be listening to a nine hour narration about somebody describing another book (the Green Book).
I WAS SO WRONG.
And I am glad that I was, I am glad that I did not give up and kept listening to it, anyhow.

Because this is not a book about a book this is a step by step immersion into why the Green Book had been needed in the first place in Jim Crow`s America. This is a history lesson that punches you in the gut in the most refined possible way.
It holds you on the edge of you seat, it makes you afraid and it sparks anger. It was like a ballad that sung the black experience in segregationist America.

It is a good material to understand better the current situation. It is a good beginning to start paying attention to your surroundings.

\\Instagram\\my Blog\\

[Biblio Files (takingadayoff) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of America is often the story of people moving -- migrating, pioneering, or just taking a vacation to see someplace new or visit relatives. But for Black Americans, moving is not the carefree Route 66 roadtrip that it is for white people. During Jim Crow, many hotels, restaurants, and even gas stations were off limits to Black travelers. The Green Book was one of several guides for Black motorists (as well as those traveling by train or bus) to let them know where they were welcome to eat, sleep, and stop. Candacy Taylor's Overground Railroad could have been just a terrific coffee table book with its colorful photos of featured hotels and diners along with pages from the iconic Green Book. But she went much further and also made it a riveting history of the Green Book, of Jim Crow, and -- most important -- she emphasizes with examples how this era is not really over. Really eye-opening and I look forward to more by Taylor.

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO. GOOD.

A must-read. Absolutely riveting from page one, and I just can't believe that Taylor road-tripped and went to up to 30-sites in a day. 30 sites. In a day. Holy burnout, Batman, I can't imagine.

The downside, however, is that due to racist right of way buy-ups, the interstate highway system and gentrification, many of the sites listed in the 20-years' history of the Green Book no longer exist. They have been replaced by highways, parking lots, empty lots, majority white suburbs, gentrification and many other things, literally erased from history.

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was surprisingly fantastic! I assumed I was simply getting a tour of Green Book sites, coupled with a history of what it was like for Black Americans to travel during Jim Crow. This book is that and so much more. Candacy Taylor , Smithsonian Curator and Harvard Fellow, took her reader on several journeys at once; a personal one that slowly and beautifully told the story of her dark skinned step father Ron and his experiences growing up in Jim Crow, a historical one that painstakingly detailed the average (and still shocking) experiences of everyday Black Americans who had to take extreme precautions to navigate the dangerous obstacle course of driving along the roads of America that purport to be housed in the 'home of the free" and provide "liberty and justice for all," and a journey that detailed the current conditions of inequality in America today. If you want to understand the lines of the past that connect to the unacceptable conditions still operating in America today, I recommend reading this book. I borrowed it for free from hoopla but decided to purchase a copy because it will serve as a reference source that I will return to time and time again. 

When Taylor first began her discussion of her Stepfather Ron, I actually felt as if the book could do without it and thought, wrongly, that it was that standard attempt authors often make to try to connect better with their audience by adding stories about their own kids or some other personal connection. I had no idea at the outset that Ron's story would fit so perfectly with her tour of the Overground Railroad. By the end, I was tearing up when thinking about Ron and felt connected to him and his experiences, and I realized how much richer it made my own experience while taking that imaginary tour. Even more powerful though, Taylor detailed the past and current conditions of each place on the Green Book tour. She had to carry some weaponry to make sure she was safe. At the same time, she was able to do the necessary work of dispelling the very false and damaging stereotypes of scary Black men and address the conditions that made those places less safe. It is the conditions that have done violence to the people who have been marginalized to those spaces. It's time we stop focusing on "scary" or  "violent" Black people and start acknowledging the extreme and constant violence done *to* Black Americans from the time white people kidnapped, chained them, enslaved and raped them, and then "freed" them only to lynch them, imprison them, and construct inhumane Jim Crow laws against them. (I keep using the word them, which feels wrong. I would actually appreciate suggestions on how to better write about the black experience as a white person.)

Another thing Taylor did to make this book noteworthy was to draw attention to Michelle Alexander's book The New Jim Crow. Taylor not only paid homage to Alexander, she provided a top notch summary of some of the most important content Alexander included in her book. 

I am following this book up by reading Isabella Wilkerson's Caste. The two books compliment each other very well. I am happy that white people are reading books about racial issues in America. However, I was pretty disappointed that a white woman's book (Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility) was the book that made it to the best seller list after the death of George Floyd. As white people, the least we can do is read about the Black experience from people who actually live the Black experience and stop lining the pockets of the White Americans who keep profiting from the Black experience. I mean, if you are white, you don't actually have to live with the daily discrimination that robs far too many Black Americans of educational and job opportunities, fair and safe housing conditions, inequality in the justice system that locks up Black Americans for the same crimes white Americans commit but are punished less often. So if you are white, you might wonder how to make reparations for all the centuries of harm done to Black Americans. Education is more segregated today than in Jim Crow. White Americans refuse to fix this. Black Americans are still being rejected if the name on their resume sounds Black. Black Americans are being locked in cages, literal cages, for the *same* crimes that white people are either not even charged for (and get to live free in the world) or get probation for (still fairly free in the world), or spend less time in a cage for. It would be great to address reparations for these things, but if history is any indicator, I seriously doubt that will happen any time soon. As white Americans, the least, the very least, we can do is support Black owned business, Black authors, and movements that try to address inequality in America.  

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was an interesting history book and well organized. It covers an important piece of history that is still relevant today.

The levels of racism that existed in the midwest and western states was especially saddening. Many White Americans in these areas like to think that the racial problems are all in the South. It just isn't true . In some respects it was worse outside the South for travel without the Green Book because Black travelers didn't know what restrictive racist laws or even which friendly establishments were in any of these towns. Route 66 was especially problematic because half of the counties were sundown towns.

In the introduction, the author Candacy Taylor, who is black, relates how her step-father still prefers to drive at night some 65 years later. This was done to avoid problems with the police. This preference came from growing up in the South in the 1950s where it was safer for drivers if the police could not identify your race before pulling you over. Anyways lots of insights like these.

Some nice photos too.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book describes the history of the Green Book traveling guide for African Americans, chronologically exploring this project's development and impact from the mid-30s through integration. However, this book is also a guide to the author's personal thoughts about a variety of different political and social issues, and the Green Book is often just a backdrop to what she wants to say about later decades' events and contemporary problems. I ended up being very disappointed, because even though this book covers a lot of great material, its title, cover, and size deceived me into thinking that this would provide far more substantial history about the Green Book and black travel than it actually did.

I wanted more stories about the experiences that black individuals and families had on the road, and less detail about how different geographic areas' racial makeups and politics changed over time. Even though systemic racism is very relevant to the story, the author couldn't decide between writing about the Green Book and writing about the history of US race relations. Much of this material was already familiar to me, and even though I learned a lot of new and interesting things, like about how some northern cities limited access to public recreational parks and beaches by making highway overpasses too low for public transit vehicles to pass under them, there were also lots of facts included here that had nothing to do with travel, and were just serving as a primer on why black people have been socially and economically limited throughout American history.

Most of the material in here was really good, so I don't want to criticize the author for providing important educational background for people who aren't familiar with these issues. Still, I believe that this book would have been much stronger if she had chosen between actually focusing on the Green Book and putting together a general primer on systemic racism. I was here for "The Green Book & Roots of Black Travel in America," not for pages and pages of explanation, issues, and anecdotes that had nothing to do with either of these things.

Also, the author gets preachy on multiple occasions, providing social commentary instead of documenting history. I enjoyed the personal elements of the book when she shared stories about her stepfather's experiences with travel, and I appreciate the ways that she showed how she learned and grew throughout researching this project, coming to a deeper understanding of survival tactics and thought processes that once just seemed paranoid to her. However, some of the personal elements of the book weakened it, because she frequently soap-boxed about current issues and related tangents from her specific political perspective, rather than talking about the Green Book and the roots of black travel in America.

Even when she is directly focused on the advertised topic of this book, it still wasn't everything that I wanted. Sometimes, when she wrote about a former Green Book location, she shared specific anecdotes about people's experiences there, but at other times, she just listed various black luminaries who had visited that hotel or eaten at that restaurant. This may truly have been all the information that she had access to, but I was interested in a more story-driven approach to the subject, and I wanted to know about family trips and business travel, not who ate or slept where, or how an area has been gentrified since.

At the end of the book, the author shares a photo-illustrated directory of locations advertised in the Green Book that still exist. I enjoyed looking through this, but I had skimmed a lot to get to this point, because this is a very long book. It could have been cut down to be so much shorter without all of the elements that weakened it, and even though I learned a great deal and know that this was worth my time, it isn't something that I would strongly recommend. Someone who isn't familiar with black history in America may want and need all of the extensive background information that the author includes, but for someone who specifically wants to learn about the Green Book, this is best read by skimming the extraneous parts.

[Stacia · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with all the race-related reading I've done over the past couple of years, this book continues to teach me, to open my eyes, to make me understand.... I am so grateful to have access to these books, these accounts, these shared stories.

This book is an eye-opening & fascinating view of Black road travel (& its many related problems) from the 1930s through the 1960s. While the book is serious & obviously addresses horrific systemic & personal racism, it also remains upbeat in many ways, reflecting the original Green Books in that they helped make safer Black travel an accessible reality.

The book is presented chronologically through the editions & is not only a micro look at travel, but also a macro look at the race issues of the time throughout the US. Many wonderful photos of the Green Book covers, content, locations, & people are included. Sadly, lynching photos were popular at one time (I daresay with social media, they are heartbreakingly & horrifyingly still all too common) & one is included, as well as some examples of racist advertising. America needs to face & explore its racist soul.

"The Green Book was a formidable weapon in the fight for equal rights. It gave black Americans permission to venture out onto America's highways and enjoy the country they helped build. Victor Green probably didn't set out to create a weapon for change, but it's also likely that when Steve Jobs put a video camera in a phone, he didn't plan to trigger a new civil rights movement, either. The point is that real change can come from simple tools that solve a problem. That is why the Green Book was so powerful."

A must-read for a piece of history that too many Americans know little to nothing about.

Taylor, the author, is also a cultural documentarian & has worked with the Smithsonian to create a traveling exhibit in conjunction with the book. I'm not sure how the exhibit is being affected by covid, but it looks like the exhibit is currently in Memphis until Jan. of 2021. Her webpage has more info, as does the Smithsonian page.
http://www.taylormadeculture.com/the-...
https://www.sites.si.edu/s/topic/0TO3...

Taylor mentions in the Author's Note that she is working on a children's edition aimed for 9- to 12-year-olds. I'm looking forward to seeing what she publishes.

[Alli · Rating 4 out of 5]

If it's possible to admire a book alone for its font, I do so wholeheartedly, along with a massive collection of fascinating photographs and mementos detailing the history of the Green Book travel guides. This compendium offers a viewpoint of this historical periodical that correctly researches it from within the author's culture as opposed to imposing a Hollywood shine on it, they of the ill-received Oscar-winning film of the same name.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️
My copy of this was an audiobook and I loved the narrator. She is one of my favorites in the audiobook world. And to be honest I probably wouldn’t of enjoyed it as much if I had read it.

Now about the book. It’s a story of race in America. The green book was a guide-map that was created to allow African Americans safe travel. The first book was only 10 pages long. While writing this, the author visited 30 sites a day. These “green books” also represented survival. This book is a historical account and pilgrimage. The author shows her dedication in her words and it was a piece of history I knew nothing about.

I highly recommend it and hope you take the time to unpack it. Let the telling teach you something about our America. The good news is that it isn’t to late to start doing the right thing.

Thank you NETGALLEY and the publisher for this ARC, in exchange for my honest review. ♥️

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say enough about how wonderful this book is. Not only does it explain the history of something that I'm going to say most people don't really know about, and not only does it have amazing photography to add to the story, but it uses real people's testimonies to give a personal element and help the reader feel the emotions that all the people affected by Jim Crow and segregation must have felt. It was a very emotionally taxing book, making me really think critically about all the history that this country keeps quiet. I guarantee it will do the same for other readers. But at the same time, through all the heartbreaking stories and realities, you can see the strength of a community of people to fight and work to overcome a prejudiced society. That in itself is inspiring.

[Dee Dee G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book would just cover the Green Book but it’s full of history. There’s so much I didn’t know and learned about. Great read.

[Raghu Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The opening lines of the book capture our attention with a shocking anecdote from the author’s family during the Jim Crow era in the United States. Ron Burford, the author’s stepfather, a child of seven in 1953, was sitting in the backseat of the family car. The car was a Chevy sedan of the same year, and Ron’s father was driving the family on vacation. A sheriff pulls him over and asks where he got the car, what he was doing, and who the inmates of his vehicle were. Ron’s father replies it was his employer’s car, points to his wife, and says she is his employer’s maid and that young Ron was her son. He is driving the car to take them home. He points to a chauffeur’s hat in the back seat, identifying it as his hat. The sheriff, satisfied, waves him on his way. Ron’s father had a good job with the railroads, and it was their family car. He was better off than a sheriff. In 1953, such lies were a safe way for a black American in the US to explain how he possessed a 1953 Chevy sedan. They help him avoid the wrath of a police officer who may get jealous of a black man owning a car he cannot. However, this was not the only thing black Americans worried about when planning a vacation during Jim Crow. There were plenty more.

Hitting the open road was not a joyful experience for African-Americans in the era of segregation, till the 1960s. On vacation, they drove during the night to avoid police harassment. Taylor says with touching pathos that seeing nature’s beauty was last on their mind as it was more important NOT to be seen. Black Americans needed to be careful not to get lost in unfamiliar territory. There were ‘sundown towns’ of all-white communities where blacks cannot enter or remain after 6 pm. If the residents found them after dark, they risked retribution from angry mobs. It surprised me to read that the liberal California of today was one of the five states with the most ‘sundown’ towns. Most insurance companies would not sell auto insurance to blacks, making it even more difficult for them to drive. African-Americans found most hotels would not rent rooms to them, allow them to eat in their restaurants, or sell them gas. On the road, they drove under the speed limit lest the police charge them for speeding. When they found a slow white driver in front, they slowed down further since Jim Crow states did not permit them to overtake a white driver. Women had it even worse. They found traveling alone a problem, as people mistook them for prostitutes if they walked into a hotel lobby alone. Many hotels forbid them in the lobby unless accompanied by men. The police considered women suspect if they carried cash with them, such as waitresses walking home with tips late evening. They accused them of being prostitutes. Despite all these impediments, African-Americans still traveled in the Jim Crow era across the country and enjoyed their travels. It is a fascinating story of entrepreneurship, initiative, and collaboration.

The solution to black travel came in the shape of a limited ‘Black Lonely Planet’ guidebook, called the Green Book. Victor H. Green, a 44-year-old African-American mail carrier with USPS in Harlem, produced in 1937 the first edition of the Green Book. It listed establishments that welcomed blacks in the New York metropolitan area, which he was familiar with. Over time, the guide expanded to list places, covering hotels, restaurants, gas stations, beauty salons, and nightclubs where black travelers are welcome all over the US. The 1947 edition even listed 106 colleges where blacks were welcome. These schools specialized in agriculture, mechanics, teaching, social work, and theology. Many users of the book sent Green their feedbacks, details of new establishments, criticisms, and suggestions much like what happens today with social media. The book even listed private residences called ‘tourist homes’ where black travelers could stay, anticipating the modern-day Airbnb. Victor Green died in 1960 and his wife, Alma, carried on the work. The last edition of the book appeared in 1967.

Taylor makes special mention of Esso as an inclusive company during Jim Crow. In the 1940s, Esso was one of the largest business enterprises in the world. And it was progressive in race relations with African-Americans. One of their marketing executives was James A. Jackson, an African-American. In the Jim Crow era, when many filling stations wouldn’t even sell gas to blacks, Esso employed blacks to own gas station franchises. When Shell Oil distributed offensive ads that featured a black man eating watermelon, Esso hired black people as chemists, pipeline workers, and sailors. In the 1940s, 312 out of 830 Esso dealers were African-American. Taylor credits Laura Spelman Rockefeller, the wife of John D. Rockefeller and Esso’s CEO, for these enlightened policies. Laura’s parents were fearless and powerful abolitionists and the Spelman family inspired Esso’s conscience. However, Taylor adds it was James Jackson who did the groundwork and implement Esso’s vision for treating African-Americans with dignity and respect.

We would commit a mistake if we see ‘Overground Railroad’ as just the history of an important travel guidebook of the past. It is a chronicle of the nitty-gritty of the Jim Crow era and a concise primer on the social history of segregation in the US. It points us to the background of why the Great Migration of blacks from the south took place from 1915, ending five decades later. The book contains copies of photographs and covers from the many editions of the Green Book from the mid-1930s. There are lovely photos of many of the old Green book establishments as they exist today. The book is worth browsing just for these photographs. Many of them are delightful, funny, and educational. However, the image on page 106 is a shocking and ignominious one for America. It shows Rubin Stacey, a black tenant farmer, hanged to death from a tree. He got executed in Fort Lauderdale on July 19, 1935, for threatening and frightening a white woman. The photograph shows three men, two women, and four young girls in pristine white dresses looking with curiosity at the hanging dead body. I remember seeing photographs of the Taliban executing women for adultery in a public place in the 1990s in Afghanistan. Adjectives such as ‘barbaric’ and ‘medieval’ always accompanied those images. It is humbling to be reminded that the US too practiced barbaric and medieval acts eighty years ago.

Candacy Taylor notes that Victor Green published the Green Book for the first twenty-five years without featuring a black figure on the cover. It is because of Colorism, which is the aversion to darker skin. She says the preference for lighter skin in the US originated with white slaveholders, but the black community too embraced it over the years. Lighter skin opened doors into the upper echelons of black society. How did they determine an African-American to be of ‘lighter skin’? They held a brown paper bag next to the face or arm of a black person to test the color of the skin. The person got entry to a black party, sorority, or nightclub only if he or she was lighter. Even black churches and black universities used the ‘paper bag test’. Black Americans obsessed about lighter skin so much that manufacturers advertised skin-lightening creams in black magazines and newspapers throughout the first half of the twentieth century. It resonated with me, as Indians and other Asians too are obsessed with it. In India, colorism gets combined with sexism. Skin-lightening creams are popular into the twenty-first century and the advertisements always targeted only women. Indian movie fans do not mind dark-skinned male stars but want the female actors to be fair-skinned. In the matrimonial market, ads invariably seek fair-skinned brides.

The last Green Book got published in 1967. In principle, we did not need the Green Book once desegregation laws got passed and integration began in America. I was keen to see how Taylor views the past fifty years. So, it startled me to see that she calls integration a double-edged sword of progress. She even dabbles a little in ‘segregation nostalgia’. Integration caused three-fourths of the Green Book sites to be closed as African-Americans had more choices now. Taylor says a century of segregation made blacks fearful of connecting with people outside their race. Paradoxically, it facilitated a stronger sense of unity in the black community. She says blacks wanted integration and sought to live free like white people. When they got what they wanted, they lost what they had! She quotes her stepdad, Ron Burford, as saying ‘integration was the worst thing that happened to blacks’. He believed he got a better education in all-black schools because the staff treated everyone the same. I got the impression that Taylor would like African-Americans of today to develop a greater sense of community and identity. Perhaps a third political party by African-Americans to advance their interests is the answer.

History tells us that the injustices of segregation caused millions of black southerners to migrate north carrying whatever they could of their possessions. It started in 1915 and lasted till 1970, resulting in six million internally displaced in the US. It surprised me to note the author’s speculation it may be the most massive internal resettlement of any people in the world. The Great Black Migration was indeed tragic. But there have been larger tragic displacements in recent world history. Since the 2010s, we are now living in the era of a massive refugee crisis. The Syrian Civil War has internally displaced six million people. Another six million have fled the country and half a million have perished in the conflict. At the end of World War 2, changes in the map of Europe left millions living in hostile territory. Twelve million Germans fled from central and eastern Europe to the new West Germany. The partition of India in 1947 caused about twenty million Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs to displace themselves to the ‘right’ country between 1947 and 1950. A million deaths occurred in the ensuing chaos and violence. The biggest of them all, however, is the massive internal migration of Chinese from rural China to southern Chinese cities since the 1980s. Economic opportunities made 150 million Chinese undertake this resettlement.

The book is well-researched and provides lessons in history on segregation. I wondered how life must have been for poor black Americans. After all, segregation humiliated even African-Americans who owned cars and went on family vacations.

A brilliant and timely book.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first learned about The Green Book from a picture book I borrowed from the library to read to my kids when they were little. The whole idea that people of color needed something like The Green Book, to be safe driving in America, is...sad, awful, horrible, and unfortunately necessary. I'm so glad they had it.

What an incredible effort Victor and Alma Green put into making The Green Book a comprehensive guide. And this book, this look at The Green Book, 'Overground Railroad', is an amazing tribute to the Greens and their work but also an enlightening examination of the awful hatred of racism. It really is a must read. I loved this book, even while it was bringing me to tears. I especially love the photos Candacy Taylor included.

I would strongly encourage Social Studies teachers to get a copy for their classroom. The format of this book makes it very accessable to young people and adult readers who might not typically (or willingly) pick up a work of non-fiction.

There are full color photos, illustrations, as well as excerpts and black and white photos from the original Green Book. Movie stars, rock stars, jazz greats, and sports heros all make their way into the book.

One of my favorite stories is that of Leah Chase, who ran the Dooky Chase restaurant in New Orleans, for over seventy years. There's a photo of her in the kitchen at the restaurant and her bright personality shines through. I love the story about her gumbo. Not going to spoil it, read it yourself.

This one is a favorite that goes on the keeper shelf. I was going to borrow it from the library but when I learned it had photographs I decided to buy it instead. I'm glad that I did. This is a book to peruse, dip into, and flip back and forth in, as you're reading.

This one gets counted for the 2020 Book Bingo square 'A Book That Scares You'.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great examination of the extent of the racial terrorism black people had to face through well into the 20th Century. Too many people think their hardships ended when slavery did, and nothing could be further from the truth. The author uses the Green Book as a guide to take us through the decades of "The Greatest Generation" and beyond to show us exactly how opposite of "great" this time period was for black people. Segregation, discrimination and racial violence were still rampant for DECADES during this so called "Greatest Generation". The atrocities and literal murders taking place during this time period make that label so deeply ironic to me. So much of this is still a problem today and we still have so far to go. This is a great read to help fill in the blanks that the white supremacist public education system in this country has gone to great lengths to ignore and erase. I'll never get over learning about every single atrocity committed during the Holocaust in school, but never talking about the atrocities happening in our very own country at the exact same time and beyond.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly think I favor reading nonfiction some days over jumping into a well-written fantasy novel. Civil Rights in America remains one of my favorite topics to learn about because you will never reach the end of all the lives and events that transpired. This is primarily because segregation and Jim Crow continually impact the country, despite legal and cultural shifts every few years.

Overground Railroad delves deep into the history of the Green Book, an African American guide to travel and establishments open to their patronage from 1936 to 1966. There is so much history embedded with its publication that readers who are interested in any part of American history will likely find some enjoyment out of reading this well-researched analysis of African American life and travel within the United States for the last ninety years.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I believe this is a book worth reading, perhaps a necessary book to read, especially by those of us who don't believe we have any prejudice or bigotry. I learned a side of American history I didn't know existed (always a good thing), and I do recommend it.
But the book itself...is another thing. It starts as political commentary (which I wanted) and floundered with political apologetics midway before turning into fond remembrances three quarters of the way through then becoming (to me) veiled outrage at where the US is now. Sometimes political commentary takes the form of outrage. I sometimes enjoy such when the arguments are presented as outrage, not otherwise.
In the end, a fascinating, must read book gets a low rating from me because the author's purpose and the writing's tone wavered too much.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author's use of the Green Book as the organizing principle for a historical overview of the segregation and racism encountered by African Americans who dared to take a road trip is inspired. She is very adept at placing Victor Green's publication in the broader cultural/political context of what travel meant pre-Civil Rights. Taylor apparently visited many Green Book sites during her research, and the photography is a fantastic, integral part of the book. The historical narrative, however, is repetitive at times: what was missing for me was more of the author's experience in finding and researching these sites.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more than just a review of what the Green Book was and the role it played in combating racism and giving dignity to black travelers. It also examines that history against current events, discussing the dismantling of those same black communities and businesses due to mass incarceration, as well as how, despite legal advances, black people are still not safe to travel, eat, and drive in safety. An excellent look at how history is never over and is never really past.