More than 60 teachers from across the nation converged on Route 66 in Flagstaff to talk about race, to visit historic Green Book and Route 66 sites, to hear oral histories from African American, Hispanic/Latinx and Indigenous respondents, to share best practices in teaching/learning, and to develop lesson plans that examine Route 66 as the “Mother Road” of community-based stories. Evans led a bus tour along the original alignments of Route 66 from Flagstaff to the old “Twin Arrows” trading post–20 miles outside the city. Teachers were also treated to extensive discussions and workshops led by Dunaway, the preeminent scholar on Route 66 and oral history interviewing. Additional activities included walking tours of Black heritage sites, a Basque Tourist Home and handball court, Route 66 motels and motor lodges, sites of Chinese and Hispanic businesses -- which were negatively impacted by the realignment of Route 66 out of the segregated Southside neighborhoods where people of color lived. This was the first year the project has been offered by the “Racialized Spaces on Route 66” teaching and research team, which is actively planning activities leading up to Route 66’s Centennial in 2026.

Source: Daily Sun August 02, 2023 18:36 UTC