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“The Negro Motorist Green Book”
April 8 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
The Durham Museum hosts “The Negro Motorist Green Book” traveling exhibition in what will be its final public display. Developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with award-winning author, photographer and cultural documentarian Candacy Taylor, the exhibition offers an immersive look at the reality of travel for African Americans in mid-century America, and how the annual guide served as an indispensable resource for the nation’s rising African American middle class and a vibrant business community. The exhibit runs Feb. 7 through May 3, 2026.
The exhibition includes artifacts such as historic footage, images and firsthand accounts to convey not only the apprehension felt by African American travelers, but also the resilience, innovation and elegance of people fighting to live a full American existence. It will bring focus to a vibrant parallel world of African American businesses, the rise of the Black leisure class in the United States and the important role “The Green Book” played in facilitating the second wave of the Great Migration.
“The Green Book” was published and distributed nationwide from 1936 until 1967, providing African American travelers with information on restaurants, gas stations, department stores and other businesses that welcomed Black travelers. In an era of Jim Crow laws and “sundown towns,” “The Green Book” offered critical, life-saving information and sanctuary.
The exhibition will include programming in partnership with local arts and culture organizations.
Note: The museum’s hours on Sundays are shortened (noon to 4 p.m.).
