Next month, the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton not only will host its biennial Hall of Fame induction, but a show of Jerry McClanahan’s early photos of the Mother Road.
More details in a news release from the museum and the Oklahoma Historical Society, which runs it, about the two events on July 9:
Beginning at 2 p.m., the Oklahoma Route 66 Association will induct two special Oklahomans into the Oklahoma Route 66 Hall of Fame. Inductions are held every two years for individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the promotion or preservation of Route 66. The winners’ plaques will be unveiled with the others on display in the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum’s Hall of Fame, located in the WOW! exhibit room.
Immediately following the induction, the museum will hold an opening for the “Route 66 Transitions, 1981-1991: Jerry McClanahan’s First Decade of Route 66 Photography” exhibit. McClanahan is a noted Route 66 authority, artist and photographer. He first began photographing and mapping the route in 1981 on a trip from Texas back to visit his boyhood home in southern California. McClanahan captured many lost and forgotten scenes during this decade of decline and revival, some of which are presented in this exhibit for the first time (editor’s emphasis).
When McClanahan was asked Friday how many photos will be shown at the exhibit, he replied he was undecided and still working on it. He added:
“This was an era of transitions for 66. Early in the decade it was ‘dying.’ Then it was officially ‘dead.’ But in the late 1980s, it was coming back as ‘Historic 66.’ One of my later photos is a very early Historic 66 sign from 1990 in western OK.”
Given that the photos are 30 years old and older, the showing undoubtedly will have some historic value.
(Image of the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton courtesy of Oklahoma Tourism)