Blog

By Brent Hoffmann, Class of 2005

“The best unforeseen benefit of becoming a docent was meeting a fellow docent who later became my husband,” said Norma Fay Green, Class of 1978. “John Corbett and I initially met at Glessner House. In 1982 we were married nearby — at Second Presbyterian Church – and dressed in period costumes to blend with the Arts & Crafts sanctuary by Howard Van Doren Shaw. Fellow docents helped lead our guests through the Prairie Avenue Historic District. And we held our reception in the Glessner courtyard.”

Norma, who came to Chicago after earning her B.A. in journalism at Michigan State University, previously worked as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. “I was a graduate magazine journalism student at Northwestern University, and curious about the built environment,” she explained. “I traveled around the area on writing assignments and started taking CAF tours on weekends. I fell in love with the city. I got an internship at Crain Communications that turned into full-time work on two of its publications.”

She later ventured into book publishing jobs at Follett, Crain Books, National Textbook and Scott, Foresman before committing to an academic career. While working as a writer/researcher at Crain, Norma commuted weekly via Amtrak to MSU where she earned a Ph.D. in mass media in the college of communication arts and sciences. She routinely juggled overlapping assignments and competing time zones to continue to fulfill her docent tour hour requirements.

Prompted by Tribune
“I became a docent because there was really nothing else to do after I took all five or six tours offered by the Foundation,” explained Norma. “I was prompted to apply by a small article in a 1977 Chicago Tribune mentioning that volunteers were being recruited for a training class to learn to give walking tours.”

When CAF was headquartered at Glessner House, Norma led tours of the building – as well as of the Clarke House, Prairie Avenue and The Loop. For more than 25 years, she’s been the tour director of Evanston Along the Lake (CAF’s first suburban walk dating back to the early 1970s). She led the inaugural-year Food & Architecture of 1893 tour. Norma still leads the Graceland Cemetery, Sheffield McCormick Row and Churches by Bus tours. Also, she has been a docent for the annual Open House weekend. “Most recently, I gave tours of Lake Street Church, built in 1875 and the oldest public building in Evanston.”

While a docent for the Society of Architectural Historians, Norma led tours of the Charnley-Persky House on Astor Street. She was a guide at the Terra Museum of American Art when it was in Evanston and then Chicago. Norma was a two-time mayoral appointee to the Evanston Preservation Commission, as well as a volunteer mentor in Goodman Theatre’s Young Critics program for high school girls. Also, she is past president of the Chicago Chapter of Women in Communications.

As a journalist, Norma is used to meeting people from all over the world, talking with and sharing information with strangers. “I enjoy validation from tourees who want to take other tours I give, and from those dear ‘recidivists’ who show up to take my tour a second time,” she said. “My docent training reinforced my public speaking and teaching skills when I later became a professor. And the camaraderie among docents is heartwarming.”

Docent News Editor
Norma was recruited by Alice Sinkevitch, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the AIA, to contribute to the research and writing of the first edition of the AIA Guide to Chicago, published in 1993. “Back in the day, I also edited Docent News for five years,” she said. “It meant attending docent council meetings to report on actions taken, writing original articles and soliciting material from other docents. I typed it up, using an old-timey typewriter and laid it out by cutting and pasting columns with line-drawing illustrations. Then took it to the photocopy shop, picked it up, folded and stapled it, attached mailing labels and walked the publication to the post office every month.” Years later, her editorial efforts were rewarded when she was presented the CAF (tongue-in-cheek) Col. McCormick’s World’s Greatest Docent Newsletter certificate.

Columbia Emerita
Her newspaper, magazine and book publishing career spanned 25 years in Michigan and Illinois. In 1978, the year Norma became a docent, she was invited back to Northwestern University to teach part-time. “I found that I liked it as much as writing.” A few years later, Dr. Green joined the professoriate full time.

In 2017, Norma retired from Columbia College Chicago where she was graduate journalism director for 20 years and Fulbright Scholar Liaison for 15 years. In her 29 years at Columbia, the professor emerita taught 24 journalism courses, including 11 that she created. Although no longer teaching, she continues scholarly research. Her latest essay will be published this summer in Ida B. Wells, Political Pioneer of the Press: Her Voice, Her Pen, Her Transnational Crusade for Social Justice from Lexington Press.

Speaking again of unforeseen benefits, including Norma’s docent husband: “Due to John’s work schedule, he eventually had to stop giving his beloved Prairie School tours. But he steadfastly maintains his support of CAF. Last fall, we took the CAF trip to Japan to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary (and Wright’s 125th birthday). Over the years, as we’ve taken many tours, including to Wright’s Martin House in Buffalo, New York, the mention of our CAF affiliation continues to open otherwise closed doors.”