As discrimination against African Americans was widespread in the 1930s, many establishments refused to cater to African American travelers. They faced inconveniences ranging from denial to food and lodging to arbitrary arrest. It was then that Victor H. Green, an African-American New York City mailman published the Negro Motorist Green Book. It served as a guidebook for African American travelers and provided a list of hotels, restaurants, taverns, service stations, and other establishments throughout the country that served African American patrons. The book was published yearly from 1936-1964 to help increase the safety of African American travelers throughout the United States, before the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed multiple types of racial discrimination that had made the Green Book necessary.
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