Green Book exhibition highlights Chicago's segregated past

Context: If you were traveling to Chicago, you most likely found friendly businesses in Bronzeville. The South Side neighborhood was the epicenter for the bustling Black middle class for most of the 20th century.

Green Book locations included:

• Palm Tavern at 466 E. 47th St.
• Manor House Hotel at 4635 S. Park Way (now King Drive)
• Parkway Ballroom at 420 E. 45th St.

Yes, but: The reason Bronzeville had so many locations was not only because of the Black middle class, but also because surrounding white communities prohibited Black people from living in their neighborhoods and cut them off from other economic opportunities.

State of play: A few places listed in the book are still around, including:

• The Drake hotel (added in the '60s)
• The Field Museum
• Wrigley Field
• Pilgrim Baptist Church
• Shedd Aquarium

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that, among the Green Book establishments the story lists that are still around, only the Drake Hotel was added as late as the '60s.