Green Book Atlas

1937-1967
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Data: Victor H. Green & Co. · NYPL (CC0) · U. Redlands & LoC · UofSC (CC0) · C. Engel (CC BY-SA 4.0)
LICENSE.md ↗ README.md ↗
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Downloads (1947)

About and frequently-asked questions

What is Green Book Atlas?

Green Book Atlas (greenbookatlas.org) contains interactive map overlays, geocoded directory datasets, and page-level OCR transcriptions for all 24 surviving geocoded editions of The Negro Motorist Green Book and Travelers' Green Book. This totals 13,696 unique establishments across 68,330 total listings, 1,734 OCR page pairs, and links to NYPL's 21 CC0 PDF volumes.

How do I use these overlays with Google Maps?

  1. Click Downloads in the sidebar and download the split, Google-compatible KML files for your chosen edition (or ALL).
  2. Open Google My Maps, click Create a new map → Add layer → Import, and upload the file(s) from (1).
  3. Open regular Google Maps (under Saved → Maps) and select your newly-created map. Enter your trip in Directions, tap any Green Book pin along your route line, and select Add stop.

Note: Google Maps enforces a cap on features per layer, so some editions are split across multiple KML files.

Why does the "ALL" tab have 13,696 sites instead of 68,330?

The "All" tab is deduplicated.

Why are 1936, 1942-1945, and 1965 missing?

Those editions either do not survive or were never published:

  • 1936: No copy of the 1936 New York prototype edition is known to survive in any public archive.
  • 1942-1945: Publication was suspended during World War II due to wartime rationing.
  • 1965: The final two issues were published as multi-year editions (1963-64 and 1966-67).

Why are the 1966-67 PDF and some Internet Archive scans excluded?

  • The 1938 and 1940 versions available on Internet Archive prohibit derivative works. As such, we use NYPL's public-domain scans instead.
  • NYPL does not provide 1966-1967 scans because they are still under copyright. We include the non-copyrightable factual directory listings.

Where can I find the raw data and source code?

On GitHub at github.com/ffleming/greenbookatlas.org.

Licenses, attributions, and excluded datasets

TL;DR: Every file in this repository is cleared for public release under public-domain or open-access terms. Datasets with non-commercial or no-derivatives restrictions are excluded. Full details are in LICENSE.md.

Source Files covered License Attribution / notes
Original historical volumes (1937-1967) Directory entries across all 24 editions U.S. Public Domain (1937-1963/64); uncopyrightable factual listings (1966-67) Victor H. Green & Co. (Victor Hugo Green, Alma Duke Green, Novera C. Dashiell, Langley Waller), Harlem, NY (1936-1967).
The New York Public Library (Schomburg Center & NYPL Labs) 1,734 ocr/*.txt & ocr/*.hocr files, full_text.txt, 1947/supplemental/nypl_*, and linked NYPL CC0 PDFs CC0 1.0 Universal Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library (NYPL-publicdomain/greenbooks & greenbook-map, Brian Foo).
University of Redlands & Library of Congress All 24 editions' listings.csv, listings.json, overlay.kml, overlay.kmz, overlay.geojson, mymaps/*.kml (68,330 listings; 13,696 unique sites) Public educational & research release (access: "public", licenseInfo: "None") Center for Spatial Studies, University of Redlands (Mapping the Green Books, GreenbookLocations1937_1966, Lisa Benvenuti et al.); Library of Congress (loc.gov/item/2016298176/).
University of South Carolina Libraries 1956/supplemental/uofsc_*, library_sc_edu_* CC0 1.0 Universal University of South Carolina Libraries Digital Collections (The Negro Travelers' Green Book, Spring 1956).
Claudia Engel / Stanford University Supplemental tables in 11 editions (1937-1941, 1946-1950, 1952/supplemental/GreenBook*) CC BY-SA 4.0 Claudia Engel (github.com/cengel/GreenBook). Primary listings.* and overlay.* files do not derive from this source.
Mapping software & basemap tiles index.html, <edition>/map.html BSD 2-Clause (Leaflet & Leaflet.heat); provider terms Leaflet © Volodymyr Agafonkin; tiles © Google Maps, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), © CARTO (CC BY 3.0).
Excluded datasets 0 files in repository Excluded The 1938 and 1940 versions available on Internet Archive prohibit derivative works. As such, we use NYPL's public-domain scans instead. NYPL does not provide 1966-1967 scans because they are still under copyright. We include the non-copyrightable factual directory listings.