Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights (Liveright, 2020)

Please join us on Thursday, August 6, at 5 p.m., for a 2020 Virtual History Book Festival “Spirited Discussion” with Gretchen Sorin, author of Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights (Liveright, 2020). This event is free but registration is required.

About the book
The liberating nature of automobiles has long been romanticized in song, film, and literature, but that narrative has largely been owned by white Americans. For the average black American, restriction of movement—a holdover from slavery—lingered long into the 20th century and shaped the way African Americans navigated behind the wheel. Long car rides and vacations required careful preparation, early morning departures, and infrequent pit stops. In grassroots fashion (most famously with the “Green Book” guidebooks), a new industry sprang up, a world of black-only B&B’s, hotels, and restaurants that played a vital role in the civil rights movement by feeding and housing activists who traveled South to protest.

About the author
Gretchen Sorin is Distinguished Professor and Director of the Cooperstown Graduate Program of the State University of New York.

How to attend the online event
The event will be shared using Zoom—an easy, reliable platform for video and audio conferencing. Here are basic written instructions for using Zoom and a brief video tutorial.

All registered attendees will receive a follow-up email from “LibCal” with Zoom log-in information. If you don’t receive this email after registering, please check your SPAM folder. If you still can’t locate the email, please contact info@historybookfestival.org.

Purchase the book
Please help support local independent bookstores by purchasing this book at Browseabout Books, official bookseller of the History Book Festival. Online sources and digital versions are tempting; however, supporting local brick and mortar shops helps to preserve our vibrant main streets. Drop by Browseabout, order books online, or call the store at 302-226-2665. You also may purchase a copy at biblion in Lewes. Each copy purchased comes with a signed archival bookplate.

About the Festival
2020 Virtual History Book Festival: Bring History Home is sponsored by Delaware Humanities and The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group.

The HBF “Spirited Discussion” is one of the types of programming offered this year at 2020 Virtual History Book Festival: Bring History Home. We are extremely grateful for the virtual venue and assistance in event promotion provided by the Lewes Public Library, in conjunction with the Delaware Division of Libraries and Sussex County Libraries.