Katrina Parks and Arizona Humanities are pleased to announce a presentation of:
“The Women on the Mother Road in Arizona”
a Route 66 screening and discussion program
Special Guest: Arizona State Historian Marshall Trimble
Thursday, March 15th at 6:00 PM
Scottsdale Public Library, Civic Center Auditorium
3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd. Scottsdale, AZ
Free and open to the public
Sponsored by Arizona Humanities and the Scottsdale Public Library
Route 66, or the Mother Road as John Steinbeck called it, has struck a chord with Americans and an ever-growing international audience since its inception in 1926, offering economic opportunity, adventure, as well as providing a gateway to the West. However, the narrative of the road, as conveyed by popular culture and historical works, has overlooked the experiences of women and girls. Documentary filmmaker Katrina Parks is capturing the oral histories of the women who worked and lived along Route 66 before those memories fade away.
Interviews, photographs, and links to archival sources for this project can be found on the website developed by Katrina Parks, “The Women on the Mother Road,”
The presentation will include the screening of clips of interviews and slides from Katrina Parks’ ongoing documentary film project: “The Women on the Mother Road” and a panel discussion with documentarian Parks and Arizona women’s historian Heidi Osselaer. Parks will share insights garnered from archival research, filming oral histories, editing interview segments, designing a website, and working with museums and other associations interested in exploring Route 66 from a new feminist angle. Dr. Osselaer has conducted extensive research in the field of female politicians and businesswomen which she will apply to the experiences of women on Route 66. Both panelists will explore the mythology, nostalgia, and authenticity surrounding the Mother Road, and will explain why this iconic highway maintains its mystique so many years after it was decommissioned.