Between Fences

Museum on Main Street is a partnership of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), the Federation of State Humanities Councils, and state humanities councils nationwide.

Museum on Main Street combines the prestige of Smithsonian exhibitions, the program expertise of state humanities councils, and the remarkable volunteerism and unique histories of small rural towns.

One-fifth of all Americans live in rural areas and one-half of all U.S. museums are located in small, rural towns.

Starting in fall 2006, AHF will bring Between Fences, the next Museum on Main Street exhibition, to Alabama. Between Fences relates to every region of the United States and deals with such topics as the definition of home, farm, and factory; the closing of the range in the South and its meaning to former slaves; and the making of fences, including a look at why Abe Lincoln became known as a rail splitter. It examines human relationships on an expanding scale: neighbor versus neighbor; gated communities; and the Mexican and Canadian borders of the U.S.

The exhibition also tells American stories through diverse fence types.

The worm fence, one of the most widely built types in American history, attracted the attention of many eighteenth and nineteenth-century visitors to the United States; its unique design contributed to international understanding of American society.

The picket fence plays a legendary role in the United States: it is the very symbol of home. Battles between farmers and ranchers, fought with barbed wire fence, were flash points in the historical debate over enclosure and access to land and resources.

The chain link fence has come to surround playgrounds, factories, and houses. The industrialization of the fence-and with it, land and house-is essential for understanding contemporary life.

The Alabama venues that have been selected to host Between Fences *are:

• Carnegie Visual Arts Center - Decatur - October 13- November 26
• Alabama Southern Community College, Demopolis Campus - December 1- January 14
• Butler-Greenville Public Library- Greenville - January 19-March 4
• Cherokee County Historical Museum - Centre - March 9 - April 22
• Solomon Memorial Library - Headland - April 27 - June 10
• Cahaba Lily Center - West Blocton - June 15 - July 29

Dates are tentative and subject to change. Check back often for updated information.

Check back often for updates on the Alabama tour of Between Fences.

Visit the Museum on Mainstreet Between Fences website