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Who Were the Matriarchs of Arizona’s 'Mother Road?'

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Route 66 is a legendary symbol of freedom and mobility that sprung up in the 1920s as part of the nation’s Federal highway system. A compilation of existing local, state, and national roads, it spanned 2,448 miles across eight states, stretching from Chicago west to Los Angeles—with nearly 400 miles in Arizona alone. During the Great Depression, the throughway became a path of escape for hundreds-of-thousands of Dust Bowl farmers migrating to California for work. Soon after, it morphed into a major transportation artery for arms and ammunition during World War II. Eventually, Route 66 became a haven for cross-country roadtrips and epitomized “America’s Main Street,” with everything from wigwam-shaped motels and vintage motor lodges to classic diners and trading posts popping up along the way.

Entrepreneur Joy Nevin

Stops along Arizona’s Route 66. Above, colorful chairs decorate Delgadillo's Snow Cap, a historic roadside diner in Seligman, Arizona. Above, the iconic road sign in Winslow, Arizona is a perfect starting point to explore Harvey Girl history at La Posada Hotel.

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The surprising story behind one of the state’s most famous highways.

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For many, Route 66 was also a “road of opportunity.” This included a large number of women who overcame misogyny and segregation to create new lives both for themselves, and the generations of women that followed. They were restaurant servers, entrepreneurs, salespeople, and military workers—all who helped transform the world around them through their tenacity and ingenuity. With the roadway’s centennial celebration coming up in 2026, Smithsonian is shining new light on this living piece of American history: notably the lesser-known stories of women who transformed history along Arizona’s nearly 400 miles of Route 66 roadway. Take Isabella Greenway—Arizona’s first ever female congressperson—who was instrumental in passing legislation to pave Route 66, and the Fred Harvey Company’s “Harvey Girls,” among the first large groups of women in the U.S. to have jobs outside the home. Even American photojournalist Dorothea Lange traveled along Arizona’s Route 66 in the 1930s, capturing the plight of migrant farm families through her iconic photographs. They’re not alone. Here’s an opportunity to meet some of the other matriarchs of Arizona’s “Mother Road.”

“Harvey Girl” Luz Delgadillo Moore

Entrepreneurs were a driving force behind Route 66 and its unique legacy. One in particular was Joy Nevin, a Rhode Island transplant born in 1924 who first made her way out West in the 1940s. The trained agriculturist and WWII pilot was recovering from a bout of polio, and soon arrived in Heber, Arizona, where she secured work as a ranch hand. Once Nevin’s health improved, she decided to start a business of her own. Nevin operated “Stockmen’s Supply Service” out of the back of a panel truck, which doubled as her living space. She spent days at a time driving back and forth along Arizona’s stretch of Route 66, serving as a door-to-door saleswomen for the state’s many cattle ranches. It was a unique career in which Nevin sold everything from ammunition to leather punches, and lived along the open road. Eventually she met and married Dotch Windsor, owner of the Painted Desert Trading Post along Route 66, just east of Holbrook. There she transferred her sales skills onto items from Navajo-made rugs to Gulf Oil gasoline and became something of a “local legend” among customers.

Entrepreneur Joy Nevin

More stops along Arizona’s Route 66. Above, Kingman, Arizona is known as the ‘Heart of Historic Route 66’ with plenty of contemporary stops like Rickety Cricket Brewing. Below, Hackberry General Store showcases a classic roadside attraction.

Linda SooHoo was another Arizonan woman who broke new ground along Route 66. An emigrant from Canton, China, Linda and her husband Fred SooHoo moved to Winslow, Arizona, when she was in her early twenties. Fred was already a naturalized citizen through serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, so to help her family make ends meet, Linda returned to school to learn English. Eventually she became a U.S. citizen, and for six decades, the couple ran a variety of businesses to get their four kids through college. These included Freddy’s Drive-in, a hamburger stand that Fred built along Route 66. While he worked at the family’s grocery store, Linda ran the eatery. Not only did she teach herself how to manage others, but she also learned to make hamburgers, fries, and the legendary tacos that made Freddy’s a “must-stop” along the iconic roadway.

Perpetuate Learner Linda SooHoo

During the course of World War II, Route 66 transformed from a civilian and tourist corridor into a lifeline for moving troops and supplies between military reservations. This included a massive ammunition depot known as the Navajo Ordnance Depot, west of the Arizona town of Flagstaff. What made this depot unique is that nearly half of its workforce were women, including many Native Americans and Latinas. They were key to making the facility operate, many of them employed in nontraditional (and often dangerous) roles from operating forklifts to digging out explosives from unexploded shells and played an essential role in America’s war effort.

Women of the Navajo Ordnance Depot

Route 66 Today

When President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, creating the Interstate Highway System, it changed the fate of Route 66. Soon enough, the iconic roadway fell out of favor for more modern, four-lane highways, and lost much of its popularity and business. Although the U.S. government officially decommissioned Route 66 in 1985, the highway’s distinct history remains. This includes the legacies of Arizona women who forged new paths both for themselves and others along America’s beloved road.

Credit: An Pham

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