Pre-Civil Rights-era travel guides like The Negro Motorist Green Book directed African-American motorists to garages, beauty parlors, hotels, restaurants, and drug stores at would serve their needs. On Providence’s Benefit Street, many Green Book sites survive to tell a tale of persistence and resistance in an age dominated by racial discrimination. This tour explores sites belonging to this segregated cultural landscape, both extant and demolished, within the context of Benefit Street’s notable preservation history. This tour is organized by Providence Preservation Society.

About the tour guide: Award-winning architectural historian Catherine W. Zipf studies the underdogs (and the elites when they were underdogs) of American architectural history. With an interest in race and gender, Zipf reconstructs lost or overlooked histories, providing a new, often surprising, viewpoint on the traditional narrative. Recent projects include Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, a book that examines Wright’s career before the construction of Fallingwater, and The Architecture of the Negro Travelers’ Green Book, a public catalogue of Green Book sites. She serves as Executive Director of the Bristol Historical & Preservation Society.

This is an active walk on sidewalks and streets that can be uneven — please wear comfortable shoes and bring water! Providence Preservation Society’s parking lot has six spots and attendees are welcome to use the lot if space is available. The lot is behind our building (24 Meeting Street), entered from South Court Street. The tour leaves from Providence Preservation Society, 24 Meeting Street.

Tickets and Info: www.eventbrite.com/e/providences-green-book-sites-along-benefit-street-tickets-1458832359859?aff=oddtdtcreator