Illinois State Museum director gets call from Route 66 centennial commission

Steven Spearie, State Journal-Register
·2 min read
Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko
Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko

Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, the director of the Illinois State Museum in Springfield, has been appointed by President Joe Biden to the Route 66 Centennial Commission.

William "Bill" Thomas of Atlanta, who serves as chairman of the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership, was also one of the 12 appointees announced by the White House last week.

Recommendations for the appointments came to Biden from the Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Senate and House majority leaders and governors of the eight Route 66 states, including Illinois.

More:Get your kicks and check out these can't miss summer stops on Route 66 in central Illinois

The centennial of Route 66, the nation's first transcontinental highway covering a total of 2,448 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica, California, will be marked in 2026.

The famed highway was established on Nov. 11, 1926, but lost its official national designation in 1985.

Ace Sign Co. CEO Todd Bringuet at the business' Route 66 museum on South First Street.
Ace Sign Co. CEO Todd Bringuet at the business' Route 66 museum on South First Street.

The paths of Route 66 cut right through Springfield with various alignments, including what is now Business Loop 55 and, later, Dirksen Parkway and Stevenson Drive.

The commission was established by Congress to study and recommend in a report any potential ceremonies and celebrations to mark the centennial anniversary of the Mother Road in 2026.

While in graduate school in Arkansas, Catlin-Legutko, a native of Claremont, Oklahoma, began researching and traveling alignments of Route 66.

Early in 2022, the museum announced it was collecting items related to the history of Route 66 in Illinois, particularly those made, purchased or used between 1926 and 1977.

Robert "Bob" Waldmire outside the converted school bus that he called home when he wasn't traveling Route 66 and was back in his native central Illinois. Waldmire, who was known as "the mayor of Route 66," died in 2009.
Robert "Bob" Waldmire outside the converted school bus that he called home when he wasn't traveling Route 66 and was back in his native central Illinois. Waldmire, who was known as "the mayor of Route 66," died in 2009.

Robert "Bob" Waldmire's family donated a significant collection of his art and personal belongings to the museum to lay the foundation for the collecting initiative.

Waldmire was an itinerant artist and peace activist who traveled along the old Route 66 from the 1970s through the 1990s and was often referred to as "the mayor of Route 66." Waldmire died of cancer in 2009.

The Road Ahead Partnership headed by Thomas works to speak with one voice for all of Route 66, through programs focused on preservation, promotion, research, education and the economic development of the road.

Thomas is also the Logan County zoning and economic development officer.

Ron Metzger thanks everyone involved with the installation of the new 32-foot-by-32-foot Route 66 sign on the original poles from Stuckey's at the Motorheads Bar, Grill & Museum after crews from Ace Sign Co. finished their installation, Friday, August 14, 2020, in Springfield, Ill. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]
Ron Metzger thanks everyone involved with the installation of the new 32-foot-by-32-foot Route 66 sign on the original poles from Stuckey's at the Motorheads Bar, Grill & Museum after crews from Ace Sign Co. finished their installation, Friday, August 14, 2020, in Springfield, Ill. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]

Among Springfield's Route 66 destinations are Motorheads Bar and Grill and Ace Sign Co., both of which have museums of Mother Road memorabilia; Route History, the former Texaco gas station which highlights stories about the Black experience on Route 66, Jim Crow laws and the Great Migration; Fulgenzi's Pizza & Pasta, which includes the Mahan Filling Station dating from 1917 and the Cozy Dog Drive In.

The newest entry is the Route 66 Experience at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Launched by the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway at the State Fair in 2021, visitors will be able to see the Mother Road and the communities along its route in a microform via QR codes and story boards.

Illinois established its own Route 66 Centennial Commission in 2018.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield museum director appointed to Route 66 centennial commission