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Shades of Route 66 in Arizona collection 2021-2022

NAU.OH.2022.03
NAU.PH.2022.03
NAU.MI.2022.03
NAU.AU.2022.03

Historical Note

In Academic Year (AY) 2021-2022, with financial support from the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona, Northern Arizona University's Cline Library initiated a documentary project, The Shades of Route 66 in Arizona: Celebrating Diversity along Arizona's Historic Route 66, supported by graduate student interns Lazarus Melan and Ivan Pacheco as well as Peter Runge (Head of Special Collections and Archives), R. Sean Evans (Archivist), Dr. Ricardo Guthrie (associate professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at NAU), and Dr. Mark Manone (chair of NAU's Department of Geography and Planning). The project was conceptualized as a celebration of diversity along Route 66 in the state of Arizona culminating in the production of an online exhibit using the Esri application ArcGIS StoryMaps.

The Shades of Route 66 project team conducted archival and primary source research utilizing archival collections housed by Cline Library SCA to document the diverse voices and stories of people who live and work along Route 66. They also consulted the "Green Book" (originally published by Victor Hugo Green under the title The Negro Motorist Green Book in 1936), phone books and reverse directories, and historic newspapers to identify businesses that were run by or served a diverse clientele on or near Route 66.

Interns Ivan Pacheco and Lazarus Melan participated in field trips along Route 66 with Sean Evans in fall 2021, spring 2022, and summer 2022, capturing photographs in Seligman, Bellemont, Parks, Holbrook, Apache County, Winslow, and Flagstaff, Arizona. The project team also participated in an April 15, 2022 walking tour of the historically diverse Southside neighborhood of Flagstaff, where many Black/African-American, Native American, Hispanic/Latinx, and Basque Flagstaff residents lived, led by Reverend Shirley Sims. The project team likewise attended the 2022 Juneteenth Celebration at the Murdoch Center in the historic Southside neighborhood of Flagstaff.

In addition to their historical research, the Shades of Route 66 project team arranged to conduct oral history interviews with business owners, photographers, authors, filmmakers, and others associated with historic Route 66, including Jesse Dominguez, Blue Miller, and Katrina Parks. The team also recorded their conversations with Reverend Shirley Sims and Tommie Dukes, although these were not formal oral history interviews.

Due to the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, all interviews were conducted and created using Zoom, a video conferencing software, to create video-recorded interviews (MP4s). The project team used Otter.ai, Zoom's built-in text transcription software, to create preliminary transcripts of their interviews, which were subsequently edited for accuracy by Pacheco and Melan as well as Jardee Transcription.

The Shades of Route 66 in Arizona project is ongoing as of November 2024.

Scope and Content

The Shades of Route 66 in Arizona collection includes video-recorded oral history interviews with Jesse Dominguez, Katrina Parks, Blue Miller, and Atsuo Sakurai (NAU.OH.2022.03), now found in Series 1: Oral history interviews. R. Sean Evans, Ivan Pacheco, and Lazarus Melan conducted and facilitated interviews over Zoom video conferencing software and in person.

In each oral history interview, interviewees reflected on their personal experiences living, working, and traveling along historic U.S. Route 66.Interviewees were asked to provide autobiographical information, including where they were born, where they attended school, what their employment history was or is like, and how they wound up living along historic U.S. Route 66. Interviewees were guided to reflect on the Route 66 town where they lived, what it is or was known for, how it had changed over time, and on the diversity of their local communities. They were also asked how the bypass of Route 66 by Interstate 40 (I-40) impacted their local community and how the bypass changed tourism along historic Route 66.

Materials found in Series 2: Field trip photographs and video recordings in the Shades of Route 66 in Arizona collection (NAU.PH.2022.03.01; NAU.MI.2022.03) were created by Ivan Pacheco and Lazarus Melan during field trips to Seligman, Bellemont, Parks, Holbrook, Apache County, and Winslow, Arizona. They include images of the Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-In, Angel Delgadillo's barbershop, Angel Delgadillo's home, previous alignments of Route 66, the Pine Breeze Inn, the Minnetonka Trading Post, the Painted Desert Indian Center, dinosaur statues, La Posada Hotel, Standin' on the Corner Park, Desert View Cemetery, decorated automobiles and cars, and the BSNF Railway station/yard in Winslow.

Materials in Series 3: Southside walking tour photographs and audio recordings (NAU.PH.2022.03.02; NAU.AU.2022.03.01) document a walking tour of the Southside neighborhood of Flagstaff, Arizona led by Reverend Shirley Sims, together with Sean Evans, Peter Runge, Lazarus Melan, Ivan Pacheco, and Dr. Ricardo Guthrie, on April 15, 2022.

Materials in Series 4: Tommie Dukes visit photographs and audio recordings (NAU.PH.2022.03.03; NAU.AU.2022.03.02) document a Shades of Route 66 in Arizona team trip to Winslow, Arizona, to visit blues musician Tommie Dukes.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Conditions Governing Access

Due to the possibility of corruption or data loss, unprocessed born digital materials from the Shades of Route 66 in Arizona collection are not available for access and use.

No restrictions on access to born-digital materials available through the Colorado Plateau Digital Collections.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for Northern Arizona University, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Related Material

R. Sean Evans Papers, NAU.PH.2004.11, NAU.OH.2006.115

Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona Records, NAU.MS.66, NAU.PH.2017.51

Angel Delgadillo Papers, Accession 2016.35

Controlled Access Terms

Administrative Information

Digital Material Available

Born-digital materials, including born-digital video recordings (MP4s) and photographs (.JPEGs), from the Shades of Route 66 in Arizona collection are available through the Colorado Plateau Digital Collections. Select "Colorado Plateau Archives." Use the advanced search menu to search for "Shades of Route 66 in Arizona" in the "Collection name" field or to search for "NAU.OH.2022.03", "NAU.PH.2022.03", and "NAU.MI.2022.03" in the "Call number" field.

Click here to view all born-digital materials from the Shades of Route 66 in Arizona collection available through the Colorado Plateau Digital Collections.

Preferred Citation

[Title or brief description of item or file.] Shades of Route 66 in Arizona collection [oral histories], NAU.OH.2022.03.[ ]. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives. Flagstaff, Arizona.

[Title or brief description of item or file.] Shades of Route 66 in Arizona collection [photographs], NAU.PH.2022.03.[ ]. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives. Flagstaff, Arizona.

[Title or brief description of item or file.] Shades of Route 66 in Arizona collection [moving images], NAU.MI.2022.03.[ ]. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives. Flagstaff, Arizona.

[Title or brief description of item or file.] Shades of Route 66 in Arizona collection [audio recordings], NAU.AU.2022.03.[ ]. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Acquisition Information

Oral history interviews were donated to SCA in spring 2022 by their respective creators.

Photographs and video recordings were donated to SCA in March, April, and July 2022 by Ivan Pacheco.

Photographs and audio recordings were donated to SCA in April 2022 by Lazarus Melan and Shirley Sims.

Audio recordings were donated to SCA in July 2022 by Tommie Dukes.

An additional oral history with Atsuo Sakurai was conducted and donated to SCA in 2024.

Processing Information

Sam(antha) Meier and Jess Vogelsang processed born digital oral history interview, photographic, and video recording materials in the Shades of Route 66 in Arizona collection between February and September 2022. R. Sean Evans created descriptive metadata for additional photographs created by Lazarus Melan in June 2022 and limited metadata for photogrpahs created by Ivan Pacheco in September 2022.

Erin Carter processed an additional born digital oral history interview into the collection and updated the finding aid in November of 2024.

Accruals

Accruals anticipated as of 2024.

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