Yancey House and Grasty Library

Q-45

The Yancey House (320 Holbrook St.) was a lodging place for African Americans during the segregation era. From the 1930s to the 1960s, it was listed in the Green Book, a guide to facilities that served black travelers. The house later became headquarters of the local chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. From 1950 to 1969, the Grasty Branch of the Danville public library system, for black patrons, operated next door. After African Americans were denied service at the main library in April 1960, an NAACP lawsuit led to a federal court order requiring equal access. In response, the city closed the libraries. They were reopened on an integrated basis in Sept., but without tables and chairs.

Department of Historic Resources, 2019

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

The Negro Motorist Green Book (Victor H. Green & Co., 1939-1967). Richmond Times-Dispatch, 23 Jan. 1949. Greensboro Daily News, 23 Jan. 1949, 4, 21 Jan. 1950. Norfolk Journal & Guide, 1 Oct. 1949, 16 April, 4 June, 17 Sept., 30 Nov. 1960. Danville Bee, 16 Aug. 1950. Danville Register, 5 June 1969, 15 Nov. 1976. Danville Register & Bee, 2 June 2013, 23 Feb. 2019. Holbrook-Ross Street Historic District, NRHP nomination 1997. Bits of History: Danville Library http://hisbits.blogspot.com/2015/02/danville-library.html Gordon Brooks Powell Jr., “Black Cloud Over Danville: The Negro Movement in Danville, Virginia, in 1963” (MA Thesis, University of Richmond, 1968). Stephen Cresswell, “The Last Days of Jim Crow in Southern Libraries,” Libraries & Culture, vol. 31 (Summer-Fall 1996): 557-573.