"The Green Book: Guide to Freedom" Film Screening

Join the History Center for a free screening of “The Green Book: Guide to Freedom”.

The 2019 Smithsonian Channel documentary dives into detail of how “The Negro Motorist Green Book” helped Black Americans navigate the roads of a segregated nation. An annual guide created by Victor H. Green in 1936, the Green Book helped African Americans travel the country safely, and with dignity, during the time of segregation.

Featuring interviews with historians, travelers, and entrepreneurs, the documentary explores what it was like to “travel while Black” in mid-century America and how the guide served as an indispensable resource for the nation’s rising Black middle class.

Following the screening, award-winning documentarian and director of “The Green Book: Guide to Freedom” Yoruba Richen will discuss the film.

Admission

This program is free with advanced registration. The screening will be held in the museum’s fifth floor Mueller Center. Attendees can tour the exhibition, The Negro Motorist Green Book, ahead of the discussion. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the program will begin at 6:30 p.m.

About the Director

Yoruba Richen is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has been featured on multiple outlets, including Netflix, MSNBC, FX, HBO, The Atlantic and Field of Vision. Her recent films are the Emmy-nominated “How It Feels to Be Free,” which premiered on PBS’ American Masters, and the Peabody- and Emmy-nominated “The Sit In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show,” which is streaming on Peacock. Her film “The New York Times Presents: The Killing of Breonna Taylor” won an NAACP Image Award and is streaming on Hulu. “The Green Book: Guide to Freedom” was broadcast on the Smithsonian Channel and was also nominated for an Emmy.

The Negro Motorist Green Book was created by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with Candacy Taylor.

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