Rediscovering Oklahoma’s Forgotten History: Photographs from Route 66, 1913-1943
A once-lost visual history of northeast Oklahoma has been rediscovered, and a new cultural project is seeking community support & funding to share it with the world during the Route 66 Centennial in 2026.
In 2023, author Adam Forgash discovered a remarkable photographic archive. Adam has been buying, selling, and collecting antique photographs and photographic equipment for over thirty years. While browsing through thousands of anonymous glass photo negatives from a storage unit sale, he discovered an envelope stuck between the plates in the last box advertising Sydney Joseph Tyler’s Photo Studio in Afton, OK.
This immediately caught Forgash’s attention, who had lived in nearby Tulsa for five years. He set about learning all he could about the photographer and the named people in the negatives. Even with the help of community elders, only a handful of known individuals were identified from Afton, so the mystery deepened.
In the early 20th century, Afton, Oklahoma was a hub of activity thanks to the Frisco railroad. Agriculture played a significant role in the surrounding region and when the dam at the Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees was created nearby in 1940, it brought tourism dollars to town.
The photographer, Sidney J. Tyler, moved from Pennsylvania to Afton in 1912 and bought a studio owned by R. A. Younger on what would eventually be part of Route 66; he lived and worked there from 1913 to 1943. Tyler’s wife, Nettie, worked at the Afton Eagle as the society page editor. They moved back to Pennsylvania in the late 1940s and lived in the house where Tyler was born until he passed in 1970.
“Although the photo studio was in Afton, this is really a story about the travelers of the Mother Road,” said Forgash. “Most of the photographer’s subjects were everyday travelers passing through the region, making this collection a unique and unseen glimpse into the history of Route 66, northeast Oklahoma, and the people and cultures that shaped the region.”
“These exceptional portraits are beautiful, surprising representations of the cultural spectrum present across Route 66 during these decades, depicting proud people in their traveling fashions, their working clothes, and their Sunday best,” he continued.
After significant research and restoration work, Forgash is preparing to share these images with the public for the first time. In partnership with the Route 66 Alliance, and renowned author/historian Michael Wallis, Faces of the Mother Road: The Portraits of S.J. Tyler will debut in January of 2026 as a traveling photography exhibition that bridges art, history, and cultural identity. This exhibit begins during the First Friday Art Crawl on Friday, January 2, 2026 at 101 Archer in downtown Tulsa.
After two months in the Tulsa Arts District, Adam wants to take the exhibit on the road and share the work with communities along the Mother Road. He and his team are raising funds to make that a reality. “If you know someone who might be moved by this project,” Adam said. “A history buff, Route 66 enthusiast, or photography lover - please feel free to share this information.”
Interested parties can get more information in these packets about Sponsorship and Donation opportunities.
