The 'guardian angel' of Route 66

In 1978, a new highway bypassed the US ​town of Seligman, Arizona. It diverted traffic away from Route 66, decimating local businesses which relied on passing trade. In 1985, the whole of Route 66 was officially decommissioned.

99-year-old Angel Delgadillo tells Helen Ledwick how he fought back, founding the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona and helping to secure historic status for part of the old road.

The barber recalls how he started the campaign to revive Seligman, and how a forgotten road became a destination for visitors from around the world, earning him the nickname the 'guardian angel' of Route 66.

Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories.

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(Photo: Angel Delgadillo in the 1980s. Credit: Delgadillo family)

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