The National Parks Service creates a record of women's stories from Route 66

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — It was a man's world nearly a century ago when one of America's most famous highways got its start, opening up vast expanses of the West as it created an automobile artery that stretched roughly 2,400 miles from Chicago to the West Coast.

But it wasn't only men behind the wheel or working in the service stations and cafes along historic Route 66.

The National Park Service and the nonprofit Cinefemme have partnered to create an online historical record of the experiences of women and girls along the Mother Road.

Writer and project director Katrina Parks says she was surprised by the diverse ways in which women's lives intersected with the road, from the pioneering female architects who designed buildings along Route 66 to the waitresses, shop keepers, postmasters and others who kept daily life humming.

by Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
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The Gayly - 6/23/2016 @ 1:10 p.m. CDT