These Jim Crow-Era Guides for Black Travelers Are Sadly Still Relevant

Traveling during the Jim Crow era was, as you can imagine, pretty difficult for African Americans. Segregation laws restricted access to restaurants, transit, hotels, businesses, and hospitals. In the South, “black code” laws targeted African Americans (residents or visitors) for loitering. And in many towns, black travelers were greeted with unthinkable violence or even death if they stayed past sundown.

Black travelers came up with innovative solutions to sidestep humiliation (or worse) on their journeys, such as wearing turbans. One of these creative ideas was conceived by Harlem postal worker Victor Hugo Green. To help black people plan a safe route across the minefield of discrimination in the U.S., he started publishing guides called the Negro Motorist Green Book in 1936.