Styled By Legacy: Fashion Meets San Antonio’s Green Book

Written By Leroy Adams

Culture Speaks Series — Presented by Culture Travels Media

What happens when Black fashion steps onto Black history?

In San Antonio, we wanted to find out.

As part of this year’s Juneteenth celebration, Culture Travels Media launched Styled By Legacy: Fashion x The Green Book — a visual storytelling series honoring the legacy of Black travel, culture, and resilience by bringing Black fashion directly to San Antonio’s historic Green Book sites.

At its core, this project is about more than fashion photography. It’s about visually bringing to life the places where Black survival and Black joy once intersected — spaces where Black San Antonians navigated segregation with both dignity and style — and connecting those historic spaces to today’s Black creative movement.

The Green Book: A Map for Survival

In the decades following the Civil War, racial hostility and segregation made traveling while Black both complicated and dangerous. The rise of Sundown Towns — communities that enforced strict racial exclusion after sunset — meant that every trip for Black families carried potential threats.

While San Antonio was home to vibrant Black neighborhoods, Jim Crow laws shaped where Black residents could safely exist across Texas. Black travelers carefully planned every journey, knowing even basic needs like gas, food, or lodging could carry risks of harassment or violence.

In 1936, postal worker Victor Hugo Green created The Negro Motorist Green Book — a revolutionary guide that listed hotels, restaurants, salons, gas stations, and businesses that welcomed Black travelers during segregation. Over time, the Green Book expanded to feature thousands of businesses nationwide — including more than 80 locations right here in San Antonio, recently rediscovered by the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum (SAAACAM).

The Vision Behind Styled By Legacy

The Styled By Legacy shoot was designed to visually bridge past and present — using Black fashion to honor these once-protective spaces while reclaiming them as modern stages for Black art, creativity, and excellence.

For this special shoot, we collaborated with Jessica Meshaun, a San Antonio-based designer, model, and creative visionary with over 12 years in the fashion industry. She’s also the lead designer for the Juneteenth Fashion Show. Through her designs, Jessica elevates beauty, culture, and community with each look.

“To me, Juneteenth means honoring the ones who sacrificed so that we can walk in freedom today. This shoot was about standing in the places they once stood, wearing the art we create today, and showing how far we’ve come — while remembering there’s still work to do.”
— Jessica Meshaun

Our Green Book Backdrops

The Majestic Theatre

Built in 1929, the Majestic Theatre was one of Texas’s most elaborate movie houses. While it was listed in the Green Book, Black patrons were forced to enter through a separate back entrance on College Street marked with a “Colored” sign.

They were relegated to the highest balconies — 13 flights of stairs up — while white patrons enjoyed the prime seating below. Even when Black artists performed on stage, Black audiences remained segregated.

The Cameo Theatre

Opened in 1940 on San Antonio’s East Side, the Cameo Theatre became a true cultural anchor for the Black community. Unlike most downtown venues, the Cameo was Black-owned and fully welcomed Black audiences.

It showcased films by Black filmmakers, hosted legends like Fats Domino, B.B. King, and Louis Armstrong, and served as a safe space for community events, including services led by Reverend Claude Black. Today, the Cameo continues to serve the community as a multi-purpose arts venue.

Fashion As Protest. Fashion As Celebration.

Through Styled By Legacy, our goal was to create editorial yet culturally rooted portraits that tell the story of San Antonio’s Black past while celebrating the power of Black creativity today. Fashion here becomes a living archive — a bridge between survival and celebration, between what was once denied and what is now reclaimed.

Black storytelling isn’t just about remembering — it’s about reclaiming. Standing in these historic locations, wearing contemporary Black designs, is a visual reminder that Black culture has always embodied both resistance and elegance.

This Is Only the Beginning

Styled By Legacy is part of our larger Culture Speaks series, where we share interviews, essays, and storytelling that elevate Black narratives during Juneteenth and beyond.

With over 80 Green Book sites recently rediscovered across San Antonio, we hope this project sparks greater awareness, pride, and connection to the rich Black history still alive in this city.

Special Thanks

Experience The Green Book for Yourself

Reserve your seat on the SAAACAM Green Book Bus Tour and experience this living history first-hand.









Leroy Adams
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