Exhibition Docent Handbook - Museum on Main Street

BUILDING THESOUTHERN BORDEROriginally made of stone markers andcast-iron obelisks, the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border runs from the PacificOcean to the Gulf of Mexico. In 1935,about 90 miles of fence, both chainlink and barbed wire, were built westof El Paso, Texas. In 2005, a steel fencedefines a portion of SouthernCalifornia’s border with Mexico. Therest of the southern line is markedby obelisks and by barbed-wire fencesthat contain cattle. Much of thesouthern line runs through the forbiddingSonoran desert and is activelymonitored by U.S. border patrol agents.THINK ABOUT ITHave visitors look at the chain-link fence and theobelisk beyond it. Ask them to think about whatthey know about border issues with Mexico andCanada and how those issues are reflected inAmerica’s borders with these neighbors.