Kicks: A History of Route 66

Resource person: Audra Bullard - office@clehighlands.com

Description:

When Route 66 opened in 1926 it was the United States’s first paved highway from Chicago to Los Angeles. To this day Route 66 still captures the imagination of scores of motorists, a two-lane road of dreams realized and dreams abandoned. Figures associated with “America’s Main Street” – Al Capone, Will Rogers, Maya Angelou, John Steinbeck, Woody Guthrie, Nat King Cole, Rudolfo Anaya, Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Andy Warhol, Georgia O’Keefe, and Dolores Huerta – will be featured in the lecture. Route 66, in the end, is where the Americana culture of today – neon signs, barbeque, McDonalds, Dairy Queen, RVs, motels and Corvettes – were first popularized.

Douglas Brinkley is Professor of History at Rice University, a CNN Presidential Historian, and award winning author of numerous books of American History. He has written biographies of Dean Acheson, James Forrestal, Jimmy Carter, Henry Ford, Rosa Parks and Walter Cronkite, among others. He was personally selected by Nancy Reagan to edit President Ronald Reagan’s presidential diaries. The New-York Historical Society selected Brinkley in 2017 as it’s official U.S. Presidential Historian. Brinkley has been actively involved in the environmental, conservation, and historic preservation community. Many of his books address political leadership and environmental concerns, including: The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America; The Quiet World: Saving Alaska’s Wilderness Kingdom, 1879-1960; Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America; and most recently, in 2022, Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening. His interest in conservation and environmental preservation has led to board or leadership advisory roles in support of the American Museum of Natural History, Yellowstone Park Foundation, National Audubon Society and the Rockefeller-Roosevelt Conservation Roundtable. He has edited books about Jack Kerouac and Hunter Thompson, as well as two volumes of The Nixon Tapes: 1971-72 and 1973. Brinkley is also passionate about Jazz, receiving a Grammy Award in 2017 as co-producer of Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom (Best Jazz Ensemble). He has been on the Board of Trustees at Brevard College and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library. He is a member of the Century Association, Council of Foreign Relations and James Madison Council of the Library of Congress. He received his M.A and PhD from Georgetown University

Notes: Cancellation Policy Please let us know immediately if you are unable to attend a class. There is no refund for cancellations within two (2) weeks prior to a scheduled class. Programs that include food, beverage or art materials must be canceled within three (3) weeks prior to receive a refund. CLE reserves the right to cancel a program if the minimum enrollment has not been met or for circumstances beyond our control, and participants will be notified, a complete refund will be issued. All classes are held in the CLE Lecture Hall at the Peggy Crosby Center unless otherwise noted. In the event information has changed from the published brochure, it will be posted on our website and in our e-blasts. Addresses for “private home” venues will be provided to registrants within 2 days of the program date.

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