About The Green Book
Victor Hugo Green, a letter carrier from New York, published the Green Book from 1936 to 1967. The book was a guide to hotels, restaurants, guest houses, service stations, drug stores, and other businesses known to be safe for traveling Black Americans during the Jim Crow era, when many establishments refused to admit Black people or served them on an unequal basis. The 1938 edition of the Green Book was the first in which Virginia businesses were listed.
DHR Initiatives
In 2023, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation in order to document Green Book locations and to share information with the public.
Green Book Highway Marker Plaques
List of Virginia Green Book Locations
This project is under development at DHR.
More Resources
The Architecture of the Negro Travelers Green Book, a collaborative digital project through the University of Virginia Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities.
Green Book in Virginia and Virginia’s Black Heritage Trail from Virginia Tourism Corporation
Green Book Historic Context Project
In 2023 and 2024, DHR will oversee a project to produce a Statewide Multiple Property Document (MPD) to conduct historical research and architectural survey documenting existing places and buildings listed in The Green Book. This project is ongoing.