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Through The African American Lens: A Conversation Between Ava ...
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During the Jim Crow era, discriminatory laws and practices made travelling by car a difficult and even dangerous experience for African Americans. Along the nation’s highways, black travelers routinely denied access to basic services like gas, food, restrooms and lodging. Stopping in an unfamiliar place carried the risk of humiliation, threats, or worse. To find safe and friendly accommodations, travelers relied on a network of shared advice, exchanged by word of mouth and also published in guides such as the Green Book. Published from 1936 to 1966, the Negro Motorist Green Book listed motels, restaurants, service stations, and other accommodations that served African Americans. Victor H. Green, a New Jersey postal worker, created his namesake guide to help black travelers safely navigate the segregated realities of Jim Crow America. Green used his contacts in the postal service, as well as input from traveling salesman and business owners, to complete the listings, and partnered with the Standard Oil Company to distribute the Green Book at Esso gas stations. Visit our 2nd floor Explore More!, an interactive space that features the "Follow the Green Book" simulation. The interactive explores the experience of African Americans traveling during this period using the Green Book. Explore the 1941 edition of the Green Book: s.si.edu/2tIJThv #APeoplesJourney
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We're excited to announce the acquisition of several objects related to Black Panther! 🙅🏾‍♀️🙅🏿‍♂️🙅🏿‍♀️🙅🏽‍♂️

Black Panther is the first superhero of African descent to appear in mainstream American comics, and the film itself is the first major cinematic production based on the character. Black Panther illustrates the progression of blacks in film, an industry that in the past has overlooked blacks, or regulated them to flat, one-dimensional and marginalized figures. The film..., like the museum, provides a fuller story of black culture and identity.

The origin story of the Black Panther character started in the late 1960s, during the height of the civil rights movement – a critical period in American history and an era that the museum explores in many of its exhibitions.

Stay tuned for an update, on when these objects are available for viewing in the Museum!

Learn more about the acquisition on our website: s.si.edu/2I9mAAf #WakandaForever #BlackPantherHistory

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In 1844, Lewis Hayden, his wife, and child, escaped to Canada through the Underground Railroad, and eventually resettled in Detroit, Michigan. He later founded a school and a church. He used his speaking skills to tour New England, New York, and New Jersey as a lecturer for the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Hayden was also a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee, an organization created to aid and protect "fugitive slaves." Hayden continued his career as an abolitionist in Massachusetts. In 1873, he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate. As a member of the Massachusetts Senate, Hayden successfully pushed for the erection of a monument dedicated to Crispus Attucks in 1887—a petition he started almost a decade prior but had failed. #APeoplesJourney

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