Green Book: Historic Travel Guide for Black America

National Trust for Historic Preservation

Between 1936 and 1964, the Negro Motorist Green Book was essential for the survival of thousands of Black Americans in an era of segregation, cemented into the American legal system through Jim Crow laws, sundown tows where African Americans were under threat of violence after sunset, and a sharp increase in lynchings and other forms of hate crimes.

The Negro Motorist Green-Book (1940)Original Source: Digital Public Library of America

The places listed in Green Books range from hotels and restaurants to night clubs, grocery stores, gas stations, and even “tourist homes,” where homeowners welcomed weary travelers to spend the night when they had nowhere else to go.Outside the travel guides (which are available for free online), little is known about the vast majority of Green Book sites. Learn more about the guide—and the places affiliated with it—that mark an important chapter in American history.

The Green Book: A Historic Travel Guide for Black AmericaNational Trust for Historic Preservation

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Learn more at https://savingplaces.org/green-book-sites.

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National Trust for Historic Preservation

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