Today, I was asked to attend the Route 66 Archives and Research Collaboration at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa. The event was organized by the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program.
I made my pitch for the ample online news archives of Route 66 News. But, as is typical of such gatherings, I heard a few pearls of newsworthy items from other attendees during the session.
— OSU-Tulsa, which holds the Cyrus Avery Archives, said is digitizing the archive’s papers and photographs. Avery, an advocate of good roads during the infancy of the highways era, is known as the “Father of Route 66.”
— Lee Anne Zeigler, executive director of the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture, said the group also is digitizing its collection of about 50,000 architectural drawings, including Tulsa’s many art deco buildings. A number of structures on Route 66 undoubtedly will be part of that collection.
— Zeigler also said TFA received a grant to restore the two clocks that originally were at the top of the historic Meadow Gold sign in Tulsa. The original plans for the clocks were found in Cincinnati, so the new clocks should resemble the old ones.
— David Dunaway, an author and the producer of the acclaimed “Route 66: Across the Tracks” radio program, is compiling a literary and oral history anthology of Route 66. It will be published in March 2012 by the University of Texas Press.
— The Autry National Center in Los Angeles will host a “Route 66 and the Way West” exhibit in summer 2014. It likely will be a traveling exhibit once it finishes its run at the museum.
— Dennis Whitaker, planner for the City of Tulsa, provided a report on various Route 66 projects in town, including:
- The city is conducting a feasibility study on how the Route 66 Experience near the Arkansas River can be built. It’s anticipated the complex will house a restaurant on its third floor, a museum and interpretive center on the second floor, and office space and a gift shop on the first floor.
- The long-awaited bronze statues will be installed at Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza later this summer. The sculptor suffered a serious injury in a fall, delaying the project.
- Whitaker said the Route 66 decorative “gateways” on the east and southwest parts of Tulsa are set to go out for bid in late 2011.
- A park, called Oasis Park, will be built near 11th Street (aka Route 66) and Mingo Road. It will include a history of Route 66 motor courts.
I would be very surprised if the exhibit from the Autry does not go on tour. They have made no secret of their desire to own a lot of items but that they also do not have enough room to house them, and especially not enough room to exhibit them.
It’s nice to see that the Autry has taken such an interest in Route 66. They unquestionably bring name recognition. I just wish that they would leave the Southwest Museum (which overlooks Route 66 from Mount Washington) as an open, operating Route 66 landmark, but I guess that is where they draw the line.
You are right Ron. You are a great archive of Route 66 info and keep us all up-to-date. Thanks again for your work on behalf of Route 66.
Good Afternoon Ron- It was great to meet you and have you appear and talk about Route 66 News (and even report on that!) at our meeting.