The Foot and The Green Book: Exploring Black Neighborhoods and Black Travel Experiences in Missouri

The Foot in Jefferson City was once a thriving African American neighborhood with a dynamic economy and thriving businesses, mirroring many other Black neighborhoods across Missouri during the Jim Crow period. The Green Book serves as a great starting point to understand both Missouri Black neighborhoods but also the experience of Black travelers in the state. With The Foot serving as the base of this study, the small town Green Book sites across Missouri will be analyzed to gain a better understanding of the variety of sites, their usage, the individuals who operated them, the wider Black communities, and the historic preservation efforts of the few remaining sites today.