The Negro Motorist Green-Book

1941

Black travelers read the Green Book to find safe accommodations.

The Negro Motorist Green Book (commonly known as “the Green Book”) was a travel guide for African Americans. Published from 1936 to 1966, it listed safe accommodations and welcoming places for Black travelers with safe places to visit . Travel writer and postal worker Victor Hugo Green published a new version of the book each year.

The Green Book identified hotels, restaurants, bars, gas stations, beauty salons, and nightclubs that accepted Black patrons. In his introduction to the 1949 edition, Green stated: “There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published. That is when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges in the United States.”