How did African Americans travel during the 20th century? Where did they go and why? How did they know where to go? What was the experience like? 

Join the Swannanoa Valley Museum for a zoom webinar on Thursday, August 27, 2020, at 6:30 PM to find out! Guest speaker Lisa R. Withers will discuss The Negro Motorist Green Book and the individuals who helped to facilitate African American travel in western North Carolina in providing answers to these questions.

About the Presenter

Lisa R. Withers is a doctoral candidate in the public history program at North Carolina State University. Her research examines the people associated with The Negro Motorist Green Book along US Highway 29 and US Highway 70 in North Carolina. Lisa’s research also investigates how the historical publication can be utilized by cultural heritage and museum professionals in facilitating public dialogues about the Jim Crow era in North Carolina as modern society continues to grapple with the legacies of Jim Crow. 

Previously, Lisa worked as the Research Historian for the NC Green Book Project with the NC African American Heritage Commission and as the curator for Claiming the Past, Directing the Future, a community-based cultural heritage project in Belize, Central America, with North Carolina State University. Lisa’s professional experiences include working in university archives, historic house museums, historic sites, local history museums, and teaching undergraduate history courses.   

Featured photo: Green Book, 1956, Cover of The Negro Travelers’ Green Book (1956). Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library Digital Library (b15424178)