Book Tours During Jim Crow
Jim Crow signage, Courtesy of the Georgia State University Library
In doing research for my book Hog and Hominy, I came across writer Langston Hughes’ account of a book tour he did in the 1930s and 1940s US south. Jim Crow laws barred African Americans travelers from segregated hotels. As result black authors like Hughes stayed where they could, many consulted the Negro Motorist Green Book to locate safe hotels, motels, or private homes. Hughes recalls, "Southerners are great ones for hospitality. Warm and amiable and friendly as" they are, "I was nevertheless almost killed by entertainment, drowned by punch, gorged on food, and worn out with handshaking.”
