A quintessential Route 66 collection, the Quinta Scott Papers provide a timeless glimpse of Route 66 in the 1980’s, just after the highway was de-commissioned. The Papers are preserved at the St. Louis Research Center, part of the State Historical Society of Missouri, and offer a comprehensive look into the career of Quinta Scott, a renowned photographer and author from the St. Louis area.

The collection includes a variety of materials such as correspondence, photographs, book drafts, and galley proofs. These documents collectively chronicle Scott’s professional journey and her contributions to literature and photography through several notable publications. Her major works include The Eads Bridge (1979), Route 66: The Highway and Its People (1989), Along Route 66 (2000), and The Mississippi: A Visual Biography (2010).

During a seven-year period in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Quinta Scott traveled extensively along Route 66. She conducted interviews and photographed the highway, its buildings, and the people associated with the iconic Mother Road. Her oral histories capture the stories and memories of prominent Route 66 figures, including Red Cheney, Peter Rossi, Addie Allred, Rev. William Pennock, Ruth and J. Leighton Avery, Juana Leno, Beatrice Boyd, Bobby Troup, and many others. These accounts provide valuable insights into the early days and culture surrounding Route 66.

Many photographs from the collection are featured in Scott’s book Route 66: The Highway and Its People (1989), which includes text by Susan Croce Kelly. Additional images and architectural analysis are presented in Along Route 66 (2000). The scope of her work encompasses locations and interviews from Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

For more detailed information, the finding aid for the Quinta Scott Papers is available at https://files.shsmo.org/manuscripts/saint-louis/S0744.pdf.

Images From the Collection