Description
The cross-country road trip is an iconic part of American culture. How did we become a nation of road-trippers? In this talk we’ll look at what it was like to be aboard a wagon train in the 1840s or a transcontinental railroad in the 1880s. We’ll discuss the rapid growth of interstates in the 1960s, and the birth of the notion that the open road is the epitome of American freedom. Why are tales of cross-country travel such an integral part of American culture? What can our nation’s long tradition of road tripping teach us about our country and ourselves?
