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Traveling Speakers Fences on Utah’s landscape range from long strands of rusty barbed wire that have become symbols of the western United States to white vinyl fences in the newest subdivisions. Chain link fences surround schools, plastic orange construction fencing wraps around constant road work, and white picket fences still mean “home” to many Utahns. We also build ideological, mental, and religious “fences” between ourselves and others around us. They may not be made of barbed wire, but they divide us nonetheless. Why do these invisible fences exist? And how might we go about crossing them or tearing them down? Poets write about fences. We talk about them in relation to immigration and other public policy issues. Museums, libraries, and community centers interested in booking a Between Fences Traveling Speaker should call Brandon Johnson directly at 801-359-9670 or email him at johnson@utahhumanities.org. Your event must be free and open to the public, and must be able to attract at least 15 people. The Invention of Home Many Americans long for old or older looking homes, surrounded by picket fences, big trees and flowering gardens, and filled with furniture that connotes family love and togetherness. While they may not always live in such places, this is the ideal of home they carry in their heads, the domestic image and lifestyle to which they aspire. With millions of other Americans, they share a vision of home that is inherently nostalgic. In its invocation of the past, this image of home seems to offer connections to past lives, to ancestors and their lifeways. Such an image is not merely something that Americans carry in their minds, but something that many try to create in their own lives. The popularity of Restoration Hardware stores and Martha Stewart goods, for example, offers some sense of the American hunger for what is imagined as traditional home life. Similarly, the spread of “new urbanist” architecture and design principles, and the success of communities like Celebration and Seaside, Florida, also reflect consumers’ desires to live in structures reminiscent of another century. Many Americans might assume that this idealized vision of home has always existed. What is surprising is that the American idea of home as we know it today was created in the early nineteenth century. And even when it was brand new, it was already trying to appear old. Why nineteenth-century American created this nostalgic ideal of home, and why we continue to find it compelling, is the focus of this talk. Susan Matt, Ogden Looking Across the Topaz Fence What was it like to be relocated to Topaz, the World War Two-era internment camp for Japanese Americans located on Utah's west desert? And how did people imprisoned there relate and interact with the people of Delta—the community closest to the camp? Long before the Second World War broke out, issei (first-generation Japanese Americans) faced strict immigration laws that limited their ability to become naturalized citizens of the United States. Their children (nisei) didn't have to grapple with the same restrictions, but they were still marginalized by local laws and other forms of prejudice. Then came the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. Within the space of a few months, Japanese Americans up and down the West Coast were being forced to leave their homes and relocate to makeshift quarters on fairgrounds and race track horse stalls. Eventually, some of these displaced Japanese Americans—more than 8,000 in all—were sent to Topaz. Meanwhile in Delta, Utah, hard-scrabble farmers were struggling to eke out a living from farming. (The area's history of boom and bust had started in the late 1800s.) After the Great Depression, Deltans were looking for any sort of industry that could bring money to the area. Ironically, Topaz was one of those economic developments. Come hear the stories of some of the people who were imprisoned in Topaz—including talented artists and teachers—and the Utahns who came to know and interact with them. Jane Beckwith, Delta
On Neighbors and Fences: A Discussion of Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” When Frost wrote his important poem "Mending Wall" in 1914, America was engaged in a debate similar to the one that exists right now: what is our role in the world? Who belongs in America? How can we best exist in the world: leading by example in relative isolation from others or by direct involvement? In addition, on a more personal level, the internal tensions in the poem created by rhyme, structure, and paradox convey both our need as humans to create walls or protective barriers around ourselves and our need to break these walls down to allow for freedom of expression and the exchange of ideas. In his typical ambivalent style, Frost forces the reader to grapple with both sides of this metaphorical “fence”: the language of the poem refuses to come down definitely on one side or the other. A thorough discussion of the form, wry ambiguity, and irony in this poem will introduce relevant and interesting issues for audiences and allow them to examine and question their own personal fences. Sally Shigley, Ogden Between Fences: Connecting the Nuts and Bolts of Oral History Research with the Exhibit This workshop presents information on procedures for setting up an oral history interview, as well as how to conduct, transcribe, and process interviews. The workshop looks at how oral history interviews are used and reviews the "dos" and "don'ts" for conducting effective interviews. The length of the workshop can vary from a one-hour overview to several sessions that offer more in-depth training in the development and philosophy of oral history, its uses, and methods. Support provided by the Utah State Historical Society. Comments: “Very easy to follow with outstanding information and examples. Good handouts. Film and transcript of interviews included.” Kent Powell, Salt Lake City Utah Land: Contested Places Utah is a place of many fences and layered claims of ownership. Dotted with places that a number of different religious and ethnic groups consider sacred, Utah's landscape was first home to several Indian groups. It still is Indian country. Yet, Utah also became a place of refuge for the Mormon pioneers and continues to be the center of the Mormon Zion. Finally, Utah is also a place taken by the United States in war against Mexico. The federal government still owns more than 60% of the land within the state. Come learn about these land claims and Utah's land laws in this presentation by Kathryn MacKay, Utah's state scholar for the Between Fences exhibit. Kathryn MacKay, Ogden |
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