By Chelsea Alexander
It was late one Monday night when I finally decided I better scroll through the list of archives Professor Wood had so graciously provided his Composition II class. Being an Honors class, a person would stereotypically assume that a student would be more on top of things, but I will freely admit to procrastinating until the last possible minute on the first draft of this assignment. Okay, maybe I procrastinate with the majority of my assignments, but that is a discussion for another time. So finally, I buckled down, or attempted to, and decided to crack open my laptop and knock out some of my homework. As I sat on my bed and scrolled through the list of archives my mind wandered, fighting against itself and trying to focus on anything but the assignment I needed to work on. I browsed aimlessly until a word caught my eye: Route 66.
For me, Route 66 and good times go hand in hand. My mind flips through images of a cherry red convertible cruising the countryside, arms in the air, windblown hair: not a worry in the world. I think about road trips and stopping at old diners and pit-stops at gas stations. Growing up I romanticized Route 66 without much information to support my whimsical thoughts, as does much of the world today. When the movie in my head finally rolled the credits and I thought about what an archive of Route 66 might hold, I realized I actually did not know much information about the iconic stretch of pavement that extends across our nation. From what I knew about archives though (which was not a whole lot either), I expected cold, hard facts.
When Professor Wood first mentioned an assignment involving an archive, the thought came to mind of a filing cabinet in a dark, empty room with a single light dangling over it, highlighting the layer of dust coating the top. As I journeyed into this archive, I briefly felt as though I had entered a maze with blinders on my eyes. It was turn left or right with no destination in sight. I quickly became lost in the piles of material contained in the archive. I spun left, clicked right, and just kept turning in circles. As I continued to wander around, I began to see that this digital archive, although confusing at first, was not a maze. As I suspected, The Cyrus S. Avery Collection archive was the digital equivalent of the filing cabinet that intruded my mind.
From what I learned as I researched Cyrus Stevens Avery, the components that make up the Collection archive were gifted to the OSU-Tulsa Library in the summer of 2004 by his granddaughter, Joy Avery (The Cyrus Archive: Inventory), which appears to be the reason the archive was established at the time it was. The idea of Joy cleaning out her basement and coming across boxes of her grandfather’s old belongings pops in my mind. Of course, sometimes family memories are hard to let go of, but what better way to honor someone than donate to history? Thanks to Joy, we can all benefit from her family’s past. When the library received the material, Milissa Burkhart organized the material into the archive known as the Cyrus S. Avery Collection. Burkhart is a Technical Assistant in Special Collections and Archives at the OSU Tulsa Library (Library Staff). The collection was established in 2004, but updates have been recorded in 2008 and October 2017 (The Cyrus Archive Inventory).
The Cyrus S. Avery Collection is an archive housed in the larger Oklahoma State Archives. After leaving Oklahoma State University’s library website, I journeyed into the Avery Collection. The first impression I got from the archive’s homepage was very formal and straightforwarded. The title appeared across the top of the page with the signature of Avery scribed under it. The only decoration on the site was a small picture of Cyrus Avery himself, captioned “Father of Route 66” to the left of the title. Although the information held in the archive seemed to be somewhat organized based on the fairly bland homepage, once you stepped into the archive itself it appeared to be a jumbled mess. Upon further inspection, I realized the archive is actually organized with the option to search by subject, date, creator, format, or even a customized search bar, much like folders in the drawers of a filing cabinet. The Cyrus S. Avery Collection is made up a variety of content including typed and handwritten talks, addresses, essays, articles, and biographical pieces written by or about Cyrus Avery (The Cyrus Archive: Inventory). Along with these documents there are also photographs and press cuttings of an assortment of topics such as road construction and the Avery Homestead (The Cyrus Archive: Inventory).
More so than just focusing on the road, though, the archive emphasizes Cyrus S. Avery himself. After a trip to his father’s Farm in Noel, Missouri in 1911, Avery’s attraction to roads began. Avery’s father had him doing some road work and once he got back home, he got right to business. Throughout his life, Avery had a variety of different jobs, but in 1913 Avery was elected County Commissioner of Tulsa County. This is when his life in road construction really took off. Later to become known as the father of Route 66, Cyrus S. Avery played the major role in the establishment of Route 66. In 1926, Cyrus Avery pitched the idea to bring Route 66 further south to cut through Oklahoma via Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
In the heart of Oklahoma, lies Route 66. Oklahoma’s wide open spaces and primarily flat ground is the perfect scene to cruise along fresh pavement and make good memories. Originally, the course of Route 66 was not supposed to cut through Oklahoma, but with the help of Cyrus Avery the construction took a detour. It meant a lot to Avery to have the road pass through his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma and, fortunately so, Avery’s idea to move the course of Route 66 was successful. As it did for the remaining seven states, Route 66 allowed Oklahoma and its citizens to prosper. Numerous businesses benefitted from the customers travelling on Route 66 and many people and families were given the opportunity to pursue a better life all because of the new highway. The installment of Route 66 is one of the most successful ventures this nation has had to this day.
Route 66 is almost always associated with kitschy nostalgia. The idea of an open road and getting away is just as much a part of the road as the pavement is, but I feel as though it is often forgotten how much hard work it took to make the road what it is today. Especially for a man like Cyrus S. Avery. This claim was made fairly clear throughout the entirety of the archive, but one thing I was unsure about as I browsed the documents was the objective of the archive as a whole.
I had initially hoped to acquire information about the culture around the time that Route 66 became popular, with the intention to contrast it with today’s society. As I came to find out as I flipped through piece after piece of this seemingly endless archive, the Cyrus S. Avery Collection was not the archive with the answers I was searching for. Disheartened, I continued to scroll. Although the archive no longer had my trust, I still had an assignment to complete. So I open my mind up as much as I could and continued to explore. What I found was information on the creation of Route 66 and the life of Cyrus S. Avery. Given the name, I cannot complain too much, but if I were allowed one wish I would ask for the mission of the archive to be better stated. When I read “Father of Route 66” under the picture of Cyrus S. Avery, I had visions of Route 66 and all its glory flicker to mind.
The Cyrus S. Avery Collection archive preserves the hard work and dedication that Avery invested into the construction of Route 66 very well. From the records of conversations between Avery and his fellow businessmen to the photographs of the road in it’s earliest stages, the collection establishes the foundation of the romantic Route 66 as we remember it today. The personality of Avery fills the space between the folders of the digital archive. The material all connects to show where labor and determination come together as a reward. If I were to critique this archive in any way, it would be that it did not clearly state the objective on the homepage to prepare readers from the beginning. Because although it may not be right, sometimes you have amateur archivists that really are not sure what they are doing. As I continued to research and grind through the inventory however, I began to appreciate the archive for what it was.
We still benefit from the work of Cyrus Avery today, as far as Route 66 goes. Whether it is to get a fix of the “good ole days” or learn about some of our nation’s most iconic history, Route 66 continues to peak the interest of people all over the nation, young and old. The Cyrus S. Avery Collection archive is a perfect place to go to read of the work of those that came before us and appreciate what they left for us, but do archives like these cover another past our nation has?
Works Cited
“Library Staff.” Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, www.osu-tulsa.okstate.edu/index.php.
Fall 2017
Chelsea Alexander is currently a freshman at Oklahoma State University. Although she is presently undecided on her degree path, she has a passion for Special Education and plans to pursue a career working with children with disabilities.
archiveoklahoma.com 