Dr. Debra A. Reid, Professor of History from Eastern Illinois University and one of the state scholars for Between Fences.

Dr. Reid will discuss Illinois’ fencing history, fence laws, and land use policy, paying particular attention to DeWitt County and the surrounding region.

Between Fences Exhibit 

We live between fences. We may hardly notice them, but they are dominant features in our lives and in our history. Built of hedge, concrete, wood and metal, the fence skirts our properties and is central to the American landscape. We use them to enclose our houses and neighborhoods. They are decorative structures that are as much part of the landscape as trees and flowers. Industry and agriculture without fences would be difficult to imagine. Private ownership of land would be an abstract concept.

But fences are more than functional objects. They are powerful symbols. The way we define ourselves as individuals and as a nation becomes concrete in how we build fences.

Through an examination of boundaries, place, and space, Between Fences will explore how neighbors and nations divide, protect, offend, and defend through the boundaries they build.

This exhibit runs from January 17, 2009 – March 1, 2009

Exhibit Hours:

• 9 AM – 9 PM: Mondays – Thursdays
• 9 AM – 5 PM: Fridays
• 9 AM – 4 PM: Saturdays

For more information, please contact Bobbi Perryman at 217.935.5174.