How Route 66 got its kicks

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0:20Kathleen Franz:Americans, especially in smaller towns, did not always have access to paved roads. It might be the epitome of quaint today, but Route 66 was groundbreaking when it was established 100 years ago.

0:46It's Friday, May 29th, and this is Here and Now Anytime from NPR and WBUR Boston. I'm Chris Bentley.

0:56Today on the show, we continue our series 25 at 250, looking at 25 objects from the Smithsonian Institution that helped tell the story of America. That includes a trailblazing folk record, subtitled Music for the Struggle by Asians in America. People had this idea that Asians were foreign. They were different from us. They were from cultures that were distinct and maybe at odds with American culture. This is only, you know, a decade and a half after Japanese Americans from the West Coast were incarcerated in camps during World War II.

1:33But first, long before interstate highways stitched the country together, there was the Mother Road. Route 66 crossed through eight states, bringing customers to gas stations and convenience stores, Indian trading posts, and roadside attractions that breathed life into hundreds of small towns. It was fully paved in the 1930s and became a migration route for poor farmers fleeing the Dust Bowl for a new start in California. Route 66 was not the nation's first long-distance highway. It's not the longest, and definitely not the busiest. But it became the most famous thanks to a marketing campaign that jumped over into pop culture.

2:16It's part of books by John Steinbeck and Jack Kerouac, and of course inspired the 1946 song made famous by Nat King Cole. A chunk of what's sometimes called America's Main Street lives in the Smithsonian's collection. And as we highlight 25 objects in that collection that tell the story of America in honor of the country's 250th birthday this July, We wanted to talk about the legacy of Route 66 with Kathleen Franz. She's lead curator at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. She told Indira Lakshmanan, there is no single person behind the creation of America's Mother Road.

2:54Kathleen Franz:It was a collective of people, like many inventions. And Americans, especially in smaller towns, did not always have access to paved roads. But nevertheless, the U.S. was growing quickly and they needed to move people and goods between towns and cities and or just take to the open road for the pleasure of it. And so, you know, this effort in particular was led by Cyrus Avery, who was a businessman and interested in developing roads and good roads in Oklahoma. And, you know, he was part of a road commission already working on these things and thought, well, let's string together all of these small existing routes, pave them and make it a major road.

3:43Paint a picture for us of what the highway looked like during its heyday and how it's different from the way we travel on interstates today.

3:52Kathleen Franz:Pieces were paved. Pieces were not paved. It ran through every downtown of every small town. So there were lots of starts and stops. It had a lot of what could be called squirrely turns through mountainous areas in New Mexico and further west. Eventually, those things get smoothed out. But yes, it was very much put people in touch with locations and with small businesses. It was very different from what you got later in the 1940s, 50s, and certainly in the 1960s and beyond, where Route 66 becomes bypassed by freeways that had less on and off ramps, and they would experience big chain national brands.

4:41I've driven part of Route 66. I was lucky enough to do this in an open-top Mustang, which was a great experience. But I have to say, for many white Americans, Route 66 has symbolized freedom and the open road. But parts of this route were very dangerous for Black Americans in the heyday of this road. Many white-owned businesses refused to serve Black customers, and some sundown towns warned Black motorists to leave after dark.

5:09Kathleen Franz:That is absolutely true. African-American drivers, and we'll say Latino drivers, some indigenous people who were out driving as well were not treated equally on Route 66 and had very different experiences. So Black middle-class drivers often relied on the Green Book, Victor Green's guide to travel to avoid the places that would be more hostile to them and find Black-owned businesses. along the route and stop where it was safe. Well, this so-called Great American Road Trip is certainly an iconic Americana thing. What do you think about when you think about Route 66 and the story of America? I think about the regional diversity of America.

6:01Kathleen Franz:And that's somewhat about the people and communities. And it is also about the architecture along the route, which the Park Service and others started taking seriously in the 1980s and 1990s to preserve some of that very local architecture and landscape.

6:25Kathleen Franz. If you're curious, the exhibit at the Smithsonian is about 50 feet of concrete pavement moved to the National Museum of American History from Oklahoma. Oklahoma has the longest drivable stretch of Route 66 among the eight states that road passes through. And if you want to take in some of that very local architecture and landscape that she was talking about, The state's tourism department advertises, quote, brightly colored neon signs, quaint motels, drive-in movie theaters, and friendly small towns in Oklahoma. End quote. Sounds like a nice summer road trip if you got the gas money.

7:02Well, if talk of Route 66, or any of our other conversations about American history, have you in a reflective mood, we could use your help for a story we're planning for July 4th. We want to know, what do you feel when you see the American flag? Do you fly the flag? What does seeing it make you think? And has that changed? Go to hereandnow.org slash flag and record a short message for us. We might put it on the radio or on this podcast. We'd love to hear from you. How do you feel about the American flag? What does it mean to you? Tell us hereandnow.org slash flag. Thanks. Looking forward to hearing from you.

7:44Coming up next, we spin a record from the Smithsonian's collection, an album from the 1970s by a collective of Asian American artists that's part protest music and part reckoning with identity. Deborah Becker has that conversation when we return.

8:15Kathleen Franz:This message comes from Sattva. How you sleep shapes how you live. Restorative sleep can sharpen focus, stabilize mood, and support long-term health. Voted Best Luxury Mattress by Sleep Foundation, Sattva's handcrafted luxury mattresses are designed to help people sleep more deeply and recover more fully at prices below traditional retail. Save up to$625 this Memorial Day at satva.com slash NPR. One of the first recognized albums expressing an Asian-American identity is preserved at the Smithsonian. The landmark 1973 album Grain of Sand was created by three Asian-American activists and musicians.

8:59The genre-defying music combines folk, jazz, and blues and is often considered a blend of political statements within a collective art project. As we look at 25 objects that tell the story of America in honor of the country's 250th birthday, we invited Smithsonian curator Sojin Kim to discuss the legacy of A Grain of Sand. Sojin, welcome to Here and Now. Hi, thank you for having me. Happy to be here and talking about this great album. Yeah, well, you know, we have to start listening to some music, right? So let's hear a little bit of one of the songs from Grain of Sand. And this song is titled, We Are the Children.

9:40We are the children of the migrant worker. We are the offspring of the concentration camp. Sons and daughters of the railroad builder. Leave their stamp on America. And so Jen, I'm wondering, can you tell us a little bit about the artists and about this song? There were three artists who made up the group that recorded Grain of Sand, and they were Nobuko, also known as Joanne Miyamoto, Chris Ijima, and Charlie Chin, who were in their 20s and 30s at the time in the 1970s. And this song is really at the heart of what they were doing. And it's about the refrain is sing a song for ourselves. And it's about what they were doing with this music, with this album, which was creating music that told the stories of their families, of their communities, of their lives, music that they had never heard anyone else produce or sing before.

10:37And this was, you know, 1973, thereabouts. So what was it like at that time? What did they hope their music would inspire? I mean, this is obviously a time when there's a lot coming to a head, right? The U.S. is still in Southeast Asia. There's anti-war movements, there's ethnic consciousness movements, there's civil rights movements. And so there's a lot of this in the air that they are a part of and being nourished from and contributing to. I think that though, when you think of the early 1970s too, this is also a moment when people tended to think about the presence of Asians in America or Asian Americans in a really limited way.

11:19So, you know, Asians were people from countries which the U.S. had basically had had conflicts or been at war with during the entire 20th century. So that's, you know, Japan, China, Korea, Southeast Asia. I think that people had this idea that Asians were foreign. They were different from us. They were from cultures that were distinct and maybe at odds with American culture. This is only, you know, a decade and a half after Japanese Americans from the West Coast were incarcerated in camps during World War II. And then the other idea, I think the other limited perception that people have of Asians during this period is that they're a model minority.

11:52They're quiet, they're hardworking, they're passive, they don't cause trouble. They're good at science. They're good at medicine. And so I think one of the things that their music does is it expresses the fact that there is more to Asian-Americans in this perception of us as foreigners, as newcomers, as model minorities. How would you describe how you are affected personally by this album as an Asian-American? What does it mean for you? Well, I think in several ways. I think, yes, for me as someone who was a really little kid in the early 1970s, I love that there were these young people in their 20s and 30s who were thinking big thoughts and who were idealistic and who were, again, looking for common cause and collaboration with people.

12:34I think also, like personally, I think the music is great. I think the lyrics are clever and smart. I think their melodies, their rhythms, their harmonies are catchy. I think they were all really great artists. And we're, of course, celebrating the 250th birthday of the country. So I'm wondering, what do you think about this album amid the 250th? I don't know. If we were to think about American protest music, an important tradition in American music and American life. A Grain of Sand helps broaden how we think about it. Who makes this kind of music? What is the narrative content of the songs? What stories are told through this?

13:10And I think what was important about what they were doing is they were really trying to connect themselves and their present to a long history. So when people may have perceived someone with an Asian face as being an immigrant or a newcomer, they were saying, look, we are the children of people who helped build important parts of the United States, everything from the agricultural industry in the state of California to the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. And so I think what's important in this 250th year is that they're connecting themselves to a long history and showing their presence as a deep one.

13:49Sojin Kim, curator of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, thanks so much for being with us. My pleasure. Thank you.

14:05As we take one more short break in this episode, here's another song from the album Grain of Sand. This one's called Yellow Pearl.

14:28And we are half the world. And we are half the world. And we are half the world. This message comes from Bombas. Upgrade your summer staples with soft socks, cushy sandals, and breezy basics. One purchase means one donated, with over 200 million donations and counting. Go to bombus.com slash NPR and use code NPR for 20 % off your first purchase. And we're back. Head to hereandnow.org to find the rest of our series, 25 at 250. There are 20 conversations there to listen to, and they're about everything from a fossilized bison skull to giant homegrown American diamonds to the real story of the flag that inspired the lyrics of the national anthem.

15:21Yes, the Star-Spangled Banner itself. And while you're there, check out some of the other stories that we're covering at hereandnow.org. The latest news, of course, and analyses of world events that go beyond the who, what, where, and when. We're all about the why and how here. Right now, we've also got a personal story from Robin Young about an old colleague and friend of hers named Barry Nolan. Broadcasting since the 1970s, Nolan was a reporter in New York during 9-11. And after the World Trade Center attacks in 2001, he spent several days at Ground Zero, sleeping outside, sifting through the dust, and interviewing first responders.

16:04He became an advocate for their health care, and eventually quit broadcasting to fight for federal legislation. Now Nolan himself has been diagnosed with interstitial lung disease. He reflected on his life and career with Robin Young. I'm at the state where getting up and going to take a shower and brushing my teeth leaves me panting for breath. The doctors are doing their best, and I'm hoping I've applied now for the World Trade Center health program. If you get that, you may get access to what is the number one drug for ILD these days called Chascade. But the way our healthcare system works these days, my insurance company wouldn't let me try it.

16:59But the drug that is for a very rare disease that has no cure, that is progressive and is 100 % fatal, costs$16 ,000 a month. there's something wrong with the system and I hope one day people will have the heart and soul to fix it Barry Nolan a week or so ago and an update now Barry's insurance company will now allow him to have that drug jascade giving him a little more time he feels for others who can't get it and he's still applying to the 9-11 fund, difficult because they won't accept his television broadcast as proof of working at Ground Zero. Too easy to fake, they say. Well, meantime, in that first conversation, Barry spoke of so many other stories sustaining him, but we leave you with one.

18:00The late Dr. Aldo Castagnada saved infants through a congenital heart surgery he developed. Barry was privileged to witness one. Staring down into the open chest of a three-month-old baby. And this doctor reaches down and lifts the heart up, the beating heart of a three-month-old in his hands. He went and talked to the parents before the operation. And the nurse came and reached for the baby. And the parents lifted it up to the doctor just, you know, with their hearts in their throat. and four hours later this doctor walks into the waiting room where these parents are and they're looking up, you know, with prayers in their eyes and he looks at them and he just clats his hands and says, well, we have some good news.

18:56These parents just exploded with joy. And, boy, the one thing I'd tell you is that if you learn to do these good deeds and you do them, the return that you get is something few of us ever experience. And we're the poor for it. Barry Nolan, speaking with his former colleague, Robin Young. There's lots more to that conversation about 9-11 victims' compensation and stories from Barry's broadcasting days at hereandnow.org. Our story is called, One Reporter Spent Years Lobbying for Those Sickened During 9-11. Now, he's one of them.

19:51That'll do it for the show today. Here and Now Anytime comes from NPR and WBUR Boston. today's stories were produced by will walkie and edited by cat welch michael scotto edited the podcast technical direction from caleb green matt reed and andre peralta our theme music is by mike mischetto max liedman and me chris bentley our digital producers are allison hagan and grace griffin and here and now's executive producer is alan price thanks for listening if you happen to be at boston at the wbur festival we'll see you friday and saturday and if you are not at the festival, well, as always next year.

20:25Have a great weekend. Back with you Monday.

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