Part of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ Centennial celebration of Central Library, ALOUD presents a special program that dives deep into the archives at the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL). Cultural documentarian and author of Overground Railroad, Candacy Taylor—joined by Tyree Boyd-Pates—will delve into LAPL’s premier collections of Green Books, a travel guide for Black motorists used for decades when traveling through segregated America. The Los Angeles Public Library has the second largest collection of Green Books and the second largest number of Green Book sites in the country, despite being encompassed by sundown towns (Culver City, Glendale, and South Pasadena).
Featured Speakers and Moderator:
Candacy Taylor
Candacy Taylor is the leading Green Book expert in the country. Her best-selling book, Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America, made the New York Times’ most notable books of the year, Oprah Magazine’s top 26 travel books, and National Geographic’s top 10 list of books by women.
Taylor was a fellow at the Hutchins Center at Harvard University under the direction of Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., and she curated The Negro Motorist Green Book, a Smithsonian exhibition that has toured 14 US Museums.
Tyree Boyd-Pates
Tyree Boyd-Pates is a Los Angeles-based historian, museum curator, peer-reviewed author, cultural strategist, and founder and chief curator of NOMMO Cultural Strategies. His work focuses on Black art, culture, history, civic media, and Afrofuturist imagination. With over a decade of experience developing acclaimed museum exhibitions, public programs, and cultural campaigns, Boyd-Pates has partnered with leading cultural institutions and brands to promote more expansive, nuanced and equity-focused narratives about the African/Black diaspora. His approach is rooted in care,
community engagement, and the belief that Black art and history are not only preserved but also experienced, energized, and projected into the future.
