Alma D. Green knew the roads. 

She traveled them as a dressmaker between New Jersey and Virginia in the early 1900s. 

A Black woman. In the Jim Crow South. 

She knew which hotels would take you. Which restaurants would serve you. Which gas stations were safe. 

1936. She and her husband published the first Negro Motorist Green Book. 

A guide for Black travelers. 

Hotels. Restaurants. Gas stations. Safe passage mapped through hostile territory. 

Alma's name wasn't on it. 

For 23 years, she was the uncredited co-publisher. 

1959. She was finally listed as editor. 

1960. Her husband died. 

Alma kept publishing for six more years. Her all-female staff working alongside her. 

1966. The final edition was published. 

As they wrote in 1948: "There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published. This is when we, as a race, will have equal opportunities and privileges in the United States.”

Image Credit: The New York Public Library