Urban renewal erased most Michigan Green Book sites. New efforts aim to save what’s left

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — The Green Book was a mid-20th-century manual essential for Black travelers navigating a segregated United States. Michigan became a major destination for the guide due to industrial migration and its status as a Black recreational hub.

The state’s Green Book sites functioned as significant cultural and political centers for nationally renowned figures.

However, urban renewal and highway construction projects like I-375 decimated the state’s most prominent Black business districts…

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