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Celebrating 100 Years of the Mother Road: Route 66

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Shields Library (Lobby - Left Side of Main Staircase)
April 10, 2026 - August 19, 2026

Well if you ever plan to motor west
Just take my way it’s the highway that’s the best
Get your kicks on Route 66

What comes to mind when you think of America’s highways? Road trips, vacation, travel, cars, and open roads? Motels and diners, cafes and gas stations, roadside shops filled with colorful tchotchkes. In the popular imagination, the desert and the great American West evoke freedom and hope – hope for a better life and future where hard work pays off, leading to the attainment of peace and stability.

It can be argued that no highway has inspired more mythology in literature, film, and music than U.S. Highway 66, aka Route 66. Dubbed the “Mother Road” by John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath, Route 66 once stretched 2,448 miles across eight states, starting in Chicago, Illinois, and ending in Santa Monica, California. While the highway will turn 100 years old on November 11, 2026, celebrations are beginning in April, when the road officially got its name on April 30, 1926.

Yellow infographic with a winding path timeline marking Route 66 milestones from the 1850s to 1985, including numbered points and labeled historical events.
Visualization of Route 66’s timeline from Route 66 Map & Guide by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Needles and Barstow Field Offices, 2015.

This exhibition joins those centennial celebrations by showcasing materials related to Route 66 from the library’s Archives and Special Collections. The exhibit cases are divided into two sections: Nostalgia and Complicating Nostalgia. In Nostalgia, explore a brief timeline tracing the establishment and decommissioning of Route 66, along with examples of the kinds of notes motorists could record in guidebooks, and recommendations for diners and restaurants on Route 66 in California. In Complicating Nostalgia, encounter a more complex history of the Mother Road by examining the experiences of migrant farm workers and the challenges faced by Black motorists traveling Route 66 before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Cover of A Guide Book to Highway 66 by Jack D. Rittenhouse, featuring an illustration of a horse-drawn stagecoach in a desert landscape.
A Guide Book to Highway 66 by Jack D. Rittenhouse, 1946.
Book cover of Overground Railroad by Candacy Taylor, featuring a family posed with a vintage car against a map background.
Overground Railroad: the Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America by Candacy A. Taylor, 2020.
Printout of Elizabeth Strickland Smith’s presentation for her book, Route 66 to the Fields in California.
“Living Okie History” by Elizabeth Strickland Smith, 200–?
Cover of the 1953 ‘The Negro Travelers’ Green Book’ airline edition, with green-tinted illustrations of airplanes.
The Negro Travelers’ Green Book by Victor H. Green, 1953, African American History, Collection, D-209.

Visit the exhibit at Shields Library

From April 10, 2026 – August 19, 2026 come view the exhibition at Shields.

Poster with text ‘Get your kicks on Route 66! Celebrating 100 Years of the Mother Road: Route 66,’ featuring a desert scene, vintage car, and archival photo.

Exhibit Location

This exhibit is located in the lobby of the main level of the Shields Library, to the left of the main staircase.

Shields Library first floor map with star left of staircase
Exhibit from
Curated by Christine Cheng