Women of Route 66

Stewards of the Mother Road

Every woman who leads the way for her community follows in the footsteps of her predecessors. In this article, we explore the stories of some of the remarkable women of Albuquerque’s Route 66, from 1926 to 2026.

Women-owned businesses on Route 66.

Harvey Girls

The young women who worked in Harvey House hotels and restaurants throughout the American West, including at the Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque, were known as “Harvey Girls.” Known for their impeccable service, they played an important role in shaping the modern hospitality industry.

Operating from 1902 to 1970, the Alvarado Hotel provided employment for young women seeking financial independence at a time where their options were limited. For one woman, Mary Colter, an architect and interior designer, the Harvey House franchise was her foray into the professional world. Colter notably designed the Alvarado’s “Indian Building,” which influenced a statewide trend known as “Santa Fe Style”: an fantastical blend of Indigenous material cultures from different regions of the Southwest tied together with a Hispanic flair.

Marla Allison

A contemporary artist from Laguna Pueblo, Marla grew up along Route 66 in the village of Mesita. Allison’s paintings combine influences from canonical painters like Gustav Klimt and Pablo Picasso with traditional Hopi and Laguna pottery designs. She now resides at the “end of the road” in Santa Monica, California, and she feels that Route 66 was a turning point in her life’s path.

WAVES and WAACs

Brooks Studio, Gas Station Attendant, ca. 1943, gelatin silver print. Albuquerque Museum, The Brooks Collection, gift of Channell Graham. PA1978.151.298

“Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service” (WAVES) was a program established by President Franklin Roosevelt for women who weren’t nurses to serve their country in other ways for payment, in areas like aviation or top security-clearance governmental positions. Sally Alice Thompson, WAVES 1944-45, was a mail clerk during World War II. Sally joined the Navy, at the behest of her father who was a conscientious objector. She was happy that the war ended shortly after the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Sally realized the horrific repercussions soon after and became an anti-war activist with the Veterans for Peace. She and her husband, Donald, paid off the mortgage for the Albuquerque Peace & Justice Center, located off Route 66 in the International District.

Alabama Milner, Portrait of Alabama Milner [Self-portrait at Age 30], ca. 1915, silver negative. Albuquerque Museum, gift of Margaret R. Herter. PA1994.015.010

Alabama Milner

Based in her studio at 202 West Central Avenue (Downtown), Alabama Milner was one of the first professional female photographers in Albuquerque. She was born in 1880 in Alabama to Henry and Mary Milner. As a young woman, Milner went on to study photography in Tennessee under photographer William Lively. She arrived in Albuquerque in the 1910s and worked for a photo studio owned by William Walton. Milner’s older brother bought out the studio and gifted it to Alabama in the early 1920s. As a prominent self-employed businesswoman, Milner acknowledged this as a rare opportunity and used her studio’s success as a platform for single women to work and make their own money. She hired women from the community as her assistants on set and bookkeepers, before World War II encouraged women to join the workforce.

Milner’s studio survived many political upheavals, from the Dust Bowl migrations, the Great Depression, World War II, the early Cold War, the development of nuclear weapons in New Mexico, and Civil Rights. Milner lovingly documented her community of Downtown Albuquerque and Barelas, capturing photos on the street of workers, railroad laborers, waitresses, tradesmen, performers, and shopkeepers. This rare, expansive archive of Albuquerque’s community provides an intimate look at day-to-day life in the city during the early 20th century, a transformative period for Central Avenue.

Emma Moya

Born in 1931, Emma Moya is an Old Town historian, poet and journalist born and raised in the historic neighborhood. In her lifetime, she witnessed the extreme population growth that transformed Albuquerque from a quaint railroad town to a major urban center in the Southwest. Moya was an avid contributor to La Herencia, a quarterly bilingual magazine documenting the history and heritage of New Mexico (1994-2009), where she wrote extensively about Old Town Alburquerque’s community history. Because of Moya’s contributions, the “quiet” history of ordinary life in Old Town before it became a historic district and travel destination is preserved. Stories of the Italian residents in the plaza, racing on Route 66, feast days, religious holidays and crypto-Jewish traditions are well-documented in the Emma Moya Collection housed at UNM’s Center for Southwest Research. Non-students are welcome to explore the collection by appointment during their visit to Albuquerque.

Emma Moya, Emma Moya [Self-portrait], 1996, color photograph.

Emma Moya Collection on the History of Old Town Albuquerque and Related Communties, Center for Southwest Research, University Libraries, University of New Mexico. MSS-907-B3-F17.

Dean Hanson, Alice K. Hoppes in her Living Room, 1996. Albuquerque Journal, June 9 1996.

Alice Faye Kent Hoppes

Alice Hoppes, 1939-2003, was a longtime civil rights activist in the city. She served as president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for 12 years, served as president of the Albuquerque section of the National Council of Negro Women, and worked to establish a state Office of African American Affairs. In 2000, she received the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Award from the NAACP. Hoppes worked to make Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a state holiday and also played a key role in opening the African American Pavilion at Expo New Mexico, the site of the annual State Fair. Now known as the Alice K. Hoppes African American Pavilion, the venue hosts music, art and performances year-round. Her work helped to emphasize that Albuquerque and New Mexico are a multicultural city and state – helping to create a welcoming destination for all.

Beneranda “Bennie” L. Sanchez

Bennie L. Sanchez, 1918-2011, was the mother to New Mexico music legends Al Hurricane, Tiny Morrie and Baby Gaby, and was co-founder and president of the family’s production company, Hurricane Enterprises. Sanchez went from running a grocery store in a small town in northern New Mexico to cultivating a family of musicians that would define the sound of New Mexico with nationwide acclaim. In a small recording studio, Sanchez built up her children’s legacies with quality equipment of the day. The venture proved to be so successful, she started promoting other artists, too. Fats Domino, Little Richard, James Brown, Janis Joplin and Elvis Presley were just a few hot tickets promoted in New Mexico by Bennie through Hurricane Enterprises.

Portrait of Bennie Sanchez, image courtesy of the Sanchez family for KRQE.

For more profiles of legendary women of the Mother Road,

take a cruise through Route 66: The Untold Story of Women on the Mother Road.

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Route 66 Centennial

Women of Today

Camilla Dominguez, wearing a pink Dia de Los Muertos-themed apron, stands in center frame in her dessert shop, Olo Dessert Studio.

Camilla Dominguez, Olo Dessert Studio

Tucked away in Nob Hill, Olo Dessert Studio proudly serves frozen yogurt, cakes and pastries made in-house. What makes Olo unique is its focus on healthy dessert options – beginning with the frozen yogurt craze in 2010. In 2019, Camilla Dominguez and family purchased the beloved yogurt shop and transformed it into a “dessert studio,” expanding options to baked goods and non-dairy treats. Camilla is passionate about serving the Albuquerque community. Her family has been in New Mexico since the Spanish colonial era, so her love for the state runs deep. “To be here in Nob Hill, on Route 66, is so special,” Camilla remarked. “We want to honor that history in Olo.” Her love for the Route is evidenced by the various Route 66 memorabilia and photographs on the walls. Camilla’s love for the people along Albuquerque’s Route 66 is just as strong: she has a “community slideshow” behind the toppings bar that rotates photos of customers over the years. “Some of these young men and women have been coming here since they were children,” Camilla explained. “It is an honor to watch them grow up and be part of their lives.” Even her children have a role in Olo: her son is the bakery lead and her daughter is a bakery chef.

Portrait of Hotel Zazz owner and operator, Dr. Sharmin Dharas, against a colorfully painted mural.

Dr. Sharmin Dharas, Hotel Zazz

Hotel Zazz hotelier and entrepreneur Sharmin Dharas, was born and raised on Route 66. As a restless baby, her mother and father would cruise up and down Central Avenue to lull her to sleep. Sharmin’s mother was her guiding light. When Dharas was a girl, her mother purchased the family’s first motel with her savings: a 14-room motor court across from the State Fairgrounds on East Central. In eight years, Dharas’ parents added eight more rooms to the motel. But Sharmin's mother always had her eyes set on a site down the road: the University TraveLodge and its decorative shadow-brick walls.
When Sharmin was 8 years old, the Dharas family took a chance on the TraveLodge. Sharmin learned to ride her bike there and held birthday parties at the pool. Her grandmother lived across from the TraveLodge at the Nob Hill Courts. The whole neighborhood of hoteliers and family friends would convene. “Growing up, I thought it was normal to see international travelers all the time,” Dharas recollected, “I didn’t realize that it was because of Route 66. We had Japanese tourists, German tourists, everyone you can imagine. People would do the Route 66 road trip because their parents did the road trip.” In many ways, Sharmin’s life work has been a true embodiment of the Route 66 dream: where the global meets the local.
Route 66 is generational for Sharmin in more ways than one, as she is now raising her own daughter along the Route. She purchased the property in 2021 with the intention of taking back her joy and zest for life. The name, “Zazz,” came from her then-infant daughter, who overheard Sharmin remark that the place “just needed a little pizzazz,” In a moment of serendipity, the little girl asked, “Zazz? What’s that?” Today, the hotel’s hot pink transformation breathes new, youthful life into a historic structure. The hotel’s vibrant atmosphere highlights the people and stories that have graced its hallways through the years, reanimating them with vivid delight. Hotel Zazz is a cross-generational collaboration for the ages.

University Lodge

Photo courtesy 89.9 KUNM.

Summer Willis, 66 Diner

In the early ’90s, Summer was just a toddler delivering milkshakes to doting customers in her parents’ diner. Today, she owns that establishment: 66 Diner on Central Avenue and Sycamore Street. The now-legendary diner on Albuquerque’s Route 66 has been a neighborhood mainstay since 1987. It opened the year Summer was born and she considers it a second home. Her father and the founder of 66 Diner, Tom Willis, taught her all the tricks of the trade and a strong work ethic. Her first job, at age 14, was pouring up at the authentic 1950s soda fountain.
Summer recalls the early years of 66 Diner fondly. She remembers filming commercials with her sister, donning the iconic turquoise waitress uniforms (designed and produced locally in Albuquerque). Her father’s influence is felt all over the restaurant, from its collection of hundreds of Pez dispensers to its extensive collection of Route 66 memorabilia. Maintaining the integrity of 66 Diner is Summer’s way of feeling close to her father, who died in 2023. “66 Diner is how my daughter and my niece can meet my dad,” Summer said wistfully. “He is everywhere in this place.”