Exhibition Docent Handbook - Museum on Main Street

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