NEW IBERIA, La. --- Join the Bayou Teche Museum, in partnership with The Iberia African American Historical Society and Shadows-on-the-Teche and explore some of the segregated nation’s safe havens and notorious “sundown towns." Witness stories of struggle and indignity as well as opportunity and triumph.
In 1936, a Harlem postal worker named Victor Green published a book that was part travel guide and part survival guide. It would go on to become a vital companion for African-American motorists, called The Negro Motorist Green Book and it helped travelers navigate safe passage across America well into the 1960s.
The organizations offer you a month of reflection on this way of life for many fellow citizens in the segregated south, including New Iberia.
Schedule of planned activities:
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August 9, 6 p.m.: Book Club Zoom discussion of Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights. Participants can access the discussion at this link
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August 21, 6 p.m. : Screening of The Green Book, the Academy Award winning motion picture, at the Grand Theater in New Iberia (1000 Parkview Dr.).
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August 28, 2-4:30 p.m.: Presentation of The Negro Motorist Green Book, a Smithsonian documentary at the Sliman Theater (129 E. Main St.), followed by a moderated panel discussion including New Iberia’s actual Green Book sites. This program was designed to coincide with the anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech.
Events are being held in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institute Exhibit by the same name hosted by the Louisiana Capitol Park Museum Aug. 21 - Nov. 14, 2021.
These events are free and open to the public but screening seating is limited and guests will be seated on a first come, first served basis.
