OTM eNEWS

Summer 2025

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WHS Annual Meeting on November 9

The Winslow Historical Society will host its 2025 Annual Meeting on Sunday, November 9, from 2 to 4 pm at the Winslow Visitors Center. The free event will begin at 2 pm with refreshments and a short presentation on the Route 66 Centennial in Arizona (above, Route 66 through downtown Winslow in 1958). Attendees can buy the 2026 calendar, 100 Years of Route 66 in Winslow, and win prizes donated by the OTM Store, La Posada Hotel, and others. The meeting will include the election of new Board members and reports on museum activities. We hope to see you there! Read More

Preserve America Youth Summit in June

OTM was pleased to be one of the many partners to help host the Preserve America Youth Summit—a program that engages students in historic preservation activities so they might be future stewards of historic communities—when they visited Winslow on June 2 during their Celebrating the Centennial of Route 66 summit across Northern Arizona. OTM staff helped welcome them at the Winslow Visitors Center (above); helped develop the scavenger hunt that engaged them with downtown sites on their walk to La Posada Hotel; and served on their June 5 Town Hall panel in Flagstaff via Zoom.

Summer History Highlight in July

OTM hosted a free Summer History Highlight on July 18 at La Posada Hotel. Author Jan Cleere (above, flanked by WHS Board members Bob Hall and Jim Buckley and OTM Director Ann-Mary Lutzick) presented 100 Western Women: The Bold, Brave, Gutsy Women of Arizona’s Past to twenty-four attendees. Cleere has been writing about early Western women for over twenty-five years, and her new book of the same title is a compilation of her “Western Women” articles published in Tucson’s Arizona Daily Star. Using historical images and a flair for storytelling, she highlighted several women who influenced Arizona's growth, including Winslow’s own Emma Lee French and Cecil Creswell.

Recent Donations Enhance OTM's Work

OTM recently received two donations that will enhance upcoming projects. Deanne Poulos of Phoenix (above, with a photo of her relatives) donated materials from the Cheros family, who ran the Coney Island and White Cafés on Route 66 in downtown Winslow. The materials will inform OTM’s 100 Years of Route 66 in Winslow exhibit, opening in January 2026 in honor of the Route 66 Centennial. Fred Santesteban (above, with Lutzick in the museum’s Santa Fe Room) donated this Santa Fe office sign as well as a PBX switchboard. His mother and aunt ran the switchboard for the Santa Fe's division headquarters in Winslow for several decades. It will be on display once the OTM Collections Center allows for more exhibit space on the OTM Floor. 

OTM's 2025 Volunteer Celebration

The Board of the Winslow Historical Society hosted the OTM Volunteer Thank-You Party at Snowdrift Art Space on June 2. Thirteen of OTM's dedicated volunteers (above) enjoyed Bob’s Awesome Potato Bar—prepared and donated by Board member Bob Hall—and cookies from local GrayBush Bakery for dessert. This year’s gift bags included sourdough loaves from the bakery and OTM logo ornaments created and donated by Board President Christa Knox. If you or someone you know loves history, please consider volunteering and join the fun! 

Donate or become a member to support our mission: Founded in 1997, the Winslow Historical Society receives, preserves, and interprets information and artifacts representing the history and cultures of the Winslow area, in order to engage and enlighten all visitors to the Old Trails Museum’s exhibits and programs.