"There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published." -- Victor Green, in the preface to the 1941 Edition of the Negro Motorist Green Book . From 1936 to 1966 Victor Green, and later his widow Alma Green, edited the Negro Motorist Green Book which listed businesses that would serve black travelers without harassment or prejudice. Race or ethnicity of the business owner was not a criteria for inclusion in the listings. We examined 9 editions of the Green Book, and created an online interactive map of the 86 Detroit businesses. The businesses were often grouped in African-American neighborhoods. Many of the Detroit locations today are underneath highways, Comerica Park and Ford Field. Other clusters of business can be noted in other parts of the city. This project was undertaken to illustrate the power of combining multiple geospatial datasets to create insight into the past. The addresses in the Green Books
By Jaime Martindale For nearly 15 years, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been collecting and archiving state and local geospatial data. While students and researchers may be the primary audience, we hope that as these collections grow, broad use by public audiences looking for historical geographic footprints of places in Wisconsin also grows. Wisconsin maintains a series of “Foundational Layers” which are critical to the flow of annual business applications, information sharing, and other use cases in government agencies across the state. For agencies to provide essential public services to constituents, having reliable geospatial data is important to support functions like 911 emergency response, maintenance and construction of roadways, sidewalks or trails, building new facilities, and smart community planning. As important is it may be to offer users the latest and greatest versions of foundational layers for current issues and applications, having access to