American Tradition: Legendary Highway 61

The restored but abandoned art deco Greyhound bus station in Clarksdale, Mississippi is a symbol of the Black Diaspora. When African-Americans escaped the poverty of the South in search of industrial jobs and potential prosperity in the north at the beginning of the 20th century, they also brought their musical tradition - the blues - with them by travelling North from New Orleans on Highway 61 by car, Greyhound bus or train to get to Clarksdale, Memphis, Saint Louis or Chicago where the blues thrived.Image: John Van Hasselt