For this skill assignment you will build a map of the “safe” locations for African Americans traveling to cities around the United States. The “Negro Motorist,” which began in 1936, provided information about local businesses and accommodations that African Americans could frequent without being denied. The Green Book described itself as aiming to “give the Negro traveler information that will keep him from running into difficulties, embarrassments and to make his trips more enjoyable.” Mapping these locations can provide hints as to the racial geography of a city.

Step 1: Create a dataset

• Download the Negro Motorist Green-Book and pick a city that has at least twenty services.
• Create a dataset in a google spreadsheet or excel document. Your dataset should include all relevant information about the service as well as the address. You will want to include information such as the name of the business, the street address, and the type of business.
• Use a geocoder (like this one) to get the longitude and latitude for each service and add each to the spreadsheet in its own column.

Step 2: Create a map in Kepler.gl

• Save your dataset as a CSV and upload it to Kepler.
• Create a map that visualizes your data in Kepler.gl. When you are finished be sure to take a screenshot of it.

Step 3: Analyze your map

• Where are the points in your city clustered? What patterns do you see?
• Look at a redlining map for your city, are the points clustered in a particular “zone” of the city? (You may want to take a screenshot of the redlining map and include it in your blog post.)
• What does this tell you about the racial geography of the city?

Step 3: Write about your map

• Write a blog post that discusses your map.
• Be sure to draw on the readings from the last two weeks to contextualize what you see in your map.
• Questions to consider: Where are the services in your city located? Are they clustered together or spread out? If they are clustered, why do you think that is? What can you learn from this map and from spatial history in general? How does it help historians ask and answer questions?
• Include the screenshot of your map in your blog post.
• Your blog post should be 5-700 words and written in a scholarly format. Be sure to be detailed in your answer and foreground the historical context.

Due before the start of class on April 18th.