Did your family use the “Green Book” as a guide to find hotels, restaurants and salons while traveling? Do you remember vacationing on beaches, visiting resorts or attending a summer camp during the era of institutionalized segregation? The Freedom Center is collecting oral histories and personal memories in partnership with the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL) Main Branch.
This community oral history project is inspired by the Negro Motorist Green Book exhibition, on view at the Freedom Center through October 13. We invite you to share your family stories of traveling in the U.S. from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s. Your story will be recorded on video and could be archived with the Freedom Center and CHPL through The Catherine C. and Thomas E. Huenefeld Story Center for future generations.
This program is free with museum admission. Registration is encouraged; walk-ins are welcome! Interviews will last approx. 30-45 minutes. Sign up for your interview time here:
About The Catherine C. and Thomas E. Huenefeld Story Center
At the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL)’s oral history center, The Catherine and Thomas E. Huenefeld Story Center, our vision is to collect, preserve, and share the stories of individuals, neighborhoods, buildings, and other elements that shape Hamilton County. By amplifying the voices and experiences of diverse communities, including historically marginalized groups and communities of color, we aim to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of our shared cultural experience.
Image credit: Leaving for Camp, July 3, 1958. Photo: Ross Pearsons from The State Newspaper Photograph Archive Richland Library, Columbia, S.C., [state_015_0061]. Courtesy of Richland Library, Columbia, S.C
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