Exhibition Docent Handbook - Museum on Main Street

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THE PURSUIT OFHAPPINESSFences of all sizes and types play centralroles in neighbor relations. Spite fencesblock views, light, and air and annoy thenext-door neighbors. Gated communities(for retirees and golfers, for example)promote particular lifestyles and, withtheir extra security, suggest exclusivityand elevated social status. Racialattitudes have shaped environments thatreinforce divisions in American society.Fences, railroad tracks, and highwaysserve as barriers to equal opportunity.
Spite fence, Lanesboro, Minnesota, about 1906–10;Photo by Gilbert B. Ellestad. Minnesota Historical SocietyTHINK ABOUT ITAsk visitors to think what the old saying “the grass isalways greener on the other side of the fence” meansto them and if it ever crosses their minds when theysee fences or gated walls on private property.LET’S TALK• Do you ever think of the saying “the grass is alwaysgreener on the other side of the fence” when youpass a chain link fence? A picket fence? A brick wallwith wrought-iron gates? A gated community?A country club? What does fence type tell us aboutthe people or the property on the other side?Naples, Florida; Courtesy Gate Packages Unlimited, Sebring, Florida• Do you think that privacy is a status symbol? Canyou think of a “status” fence in your community?What does the fence do? Who or what does itinclude and exclude? Can you think of other waysthat people seek privacy on their own property?• Why would you build a privacy fence like the one inthe exhibition? Take a look in the peepholes. Did youfind any familiar reasons for building a privacy fence?• Take a look at the old farmhouse in Minnesota.What do you think the fence’s function is? Whodo you think installed the fence: the homeowneror the next-door neighbor?• Can you think of any examples of fences motivatedby negative attitudes toward race or ethnicity inyour community or in your experience? In additionto fences, can you think of other types of physicalbarriers to equal opportunity and access?Concrete wall to keep black Americans out of a white neighborhoodin Detroit, 1941; Photo by John Vachon. Library of Congress
Page 1 and 2: docent handbookMuseum</stro
Page 3 and 4: Welcome to BETWEEN FENCES and thank
Page 5 and 6: THINK ABOUT ITHave your visitors en
Page 7 and 8: Chicken & Egg Public Projects, Inc.
Page 9 and 10: THINK ABOUT ITEncourage your visito
Page 11 and 12: • Match the sliding front-yard fe
Page 13 and 14: LET’S TALK• Does The Leedom Far
Page 15 and 16: Rail pile near Circleville, Ohio, 1
Page 17 and 18: THINK ABOUT ITAsk your visitors to
Page 19 and 20: THINK ABOUT ITEncourage your visito
Page 21 and 22: LET’S TALK• In 1860, only seven
Page 23 and 24: • Do you think livestock should h
Page 25: LET’S TALK• What do you think
Page 29 and 30: THINK ABOUT ITAs they explore both
Page 31 and 32: Postcard of the border between Sono
Page 33 and 34: Photographs from Farm and Fence <st
Page 35: As representatives of the museum, d

Exhibition Docent Handbook - Museum on Main Street

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