The Negro Motorist Green Book, a guide for Black travelers published from 1936 to 1967, has enjoyed recent popular and scholarly interest. Podcasts and documentaries, articles and essays, and full-length books have been devoted to educating readers about the history of the Green Book and the businesses once listed within it. 

We invite submissions for an edited collection dedicated to reminiscences about and histories of the South Carolina sites listed in the Green Book. Most issues of the Green Book included somewhere between 30 and 45 beauty parlors, tourist homes, motels, taverns, gas stations, and restaurants located in more than 15 individual South Carolina towns. According to the South Carolina Department of Archives, it is estimated that there were approximately 300 South Carolina businesses listed in the Green Book over the life of the publication; only about 30% are still standing today.

Little is known about the origin of these businesses, the people who ran them, those who found refuge within them, the demise of many of these establishments, and the role that they may have played within their communities. It is our aim to collect essays, written for a general audience, that tell these stories.

 Chapter topics might include:

• Reminiscences of travelers or community members who visited sites
• First-person narratives from Green Book site owners
• Local histories about the life of specific Green Book sites
• The role Green Book sites played in the life of the Black community or Black business district
• Narratives about musicians and athletes who relied on South Carolina Green Book sites when traveling
• Accounts of efforts to seek out, preserve, or mark sites in specific cities

Chapters written by public historians, archivists, curators, academics, graduate students, and journalists are welcome. And we would encourage collaboratively written pieces and partnerships among colleges/universities, local historical societies, and community groups. Those wishing to discuss potential contributions should feel free to contact Meredith Love at mlove@fmarion.edu.

Essays should be 5,000-7,000 words in length, in Chicago format (narrative pieces shorter than 5,000 words will be considered).

Proposals (no more than 1,000 words, including a short bio) are due on June 15 to the editor, Meredith Love (mlove@fmarion.edu). Decisions about accepted articles will be made by July 15. Full articles will be due in December 2022.

*We are currently in discussion with a university press about possible publication. All submissions will be peer reviewed prior to publication.