ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – It was called the “Mother Road,” a vital highway bridging Chicago and Los Angeles through the Southwest that represented unlimited possibilities in 20th Century United States.
Black travelers for decades, however, needed a guide known as the Green Book to help locate the few motels and restaurants that would serve.
Now a writer is hoping to bring attention to the businesses along the historic Route 66 that once provided safe havens for black travelers who braved the road for simple family vacations. Candacy Taylor says the world of rural barber shops, hospitable gas stations, and multicultural desert motels are at risked of being lost forever unless something is done to map their legacy.
She is working on a project to map such businesses as the De Anza Motor Lodge in Albuquerque.