Danville City officials joined community members at a ceremony on Tuesday to dedicate plaques that commemorate two sites featured in the Green Book, a 20th-century travel guide for African Americans during the Jim Crow era of segregation. 

The plaques have been attached to existing historical highway markers for the Holbrook-Ross Historic District and the Yancey House/Grasty Library. The Green Book plaque for the Yancey House/Grasty Library marker at 320 Holbrook St. was unveiled during the ceremony.

The Yancey House, listed in the Green Book from the 1930s to the 1960s, served as a lodging place for African Americans during the segregation era. The house later became the headquarters of the Danville chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Grasty Library, a branch of the Danville public library system for Black patrons, operated next door to the Yancey House from 1950 to 1969. 

In January, Del. Michael P. Mullin introduced a bill to designate or approve supplementary plaques for historical highway markers identifying locations and businesses in Virginia that were featured in the Green Book. The General Assembly passed the bill. In March, the legislation was signed into law by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.