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Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America
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68
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
77/100Critics
37/100Scholars
91/100Author:
Candacy A. Taylor
Publisher:
Abrams Press
Date:
January 7, 2020
Published from 1936 to 1966, the Green Book was the 'black travel guide to America,' offering tips to African Americans for safely navigating the nation's highways and byways during the virulently racist Jim Crow era. Here Taylor traces the history of the Green Bookâtraveling and visiting some of its listed stopsâand explores how we arrived at our present historical moment that is still so rife with racial tension.
What The Reviewers Say
Taylor assiduously retraces the Green Book’s history.
... [an] electrifying deep dive into the history of the Green Book.
... make[s] powerfully clear the magnitude of the injustices and harrowing encounters endured by African-Americans traveling by 'open' road, as well as of their quiet acts of rebellion and protest, which went far beyond having to find alternative places to eat, sleep and buy gas.
Her exhaustive exploration illuminates a lost network of vibrant hidden communities. It also highlighted the distances between some.
