Join us for a "Premiere Weekend" June 11-13:  

Hope VI at the Chicago Dramatists Theater
AND
Inside Out (Back by Popular Demand!)

*****************************************************

 

HOPE VI

Thursday, June 11 is National Public Housing Museum Night* at The Chicago Dramatists Theater, along with the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media, Columbia College Chicago.


Join us for this world premiere play, HOPE VI -- The story of six-year-old Hope Graves, a highly spirited and funny young girl who has become strangely quiet.

Hope VI is the journey of her dream and her family's struggle to survive after the wrecking ball hits the Robert Taylor homes on Chicago's Southside.

*VIP ticket holders will have the unique opportunity to attend a pre-play reception and follow-up discussion with director Ilesa Duncan, Institute Executive Director Jane Saks, and Museum Executive Director Keith L. Magee.
Part of the proceeds from this performance will be donated to the Museum.
For special admission rate, mention code: NPHM.

When: Thursday, June 11, 2009: 8pm
Where: Chicago Dramatists Theater
1105 W. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL

Admission:
(Please mention code: NPHM)
$10 - CHA Residents
$25 - General Admission
$35 - VIP Admission to Reception, HOPE VI and Panel Discussion

Reservations:
312-633-0630
http://www.chicagodramatists.org/

                                                             

   

INSIDE OUT
Back by Popular Demand! 

June 12 & 13, 2009

With the overwhelming response of over 300 visitors in one night and the request from hundreds more...
it returns!

 

Inside Out: An Audio and Visual Installation - A premier series of audio and visual installations in the former Jane Addams Homes. Experience the future of the National Public Housing Museum through the eyes and voices of the many generations who have made their homes in public housing.

 When: 
 
  Friday, June 12: 6-8pm
            AND
  Saturday, June 13: 12-3pm
 Where:
 
  The future home of the National Public Housing Museum,
  1322-24 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL  (Map)
 Admission:  Exhibition is free and open to everyone

 News Release:
National Public Housing Museum Names Founding Executive Director

 Keith L. Magee

We are delighted to report that The National Public Housing Museum's board of Directors voted unanimously and with great enthusiasm to appoint Keith L. Magee as its Founding Executive Director.

Click Here to Read the Press Release:
icon NPHM_NamesFounding_Executive_Director-Immediate_Re (93 KB)

Mission:  The National Public Housing Museum is the first cultural institution in the United States dedicated to interpreting the American experience in public housing. The Museum draws on the power of place and memory to illuminate the resilience of poor and working class families of every race and ethnicity to realize the promise of America.

Public Housing MuseumPublic Housing Museum

"We want to leave something so our children or grandchildren will know we were here... that we existed as a community."
- Ms. Deverra Beverly, Founding Chair, National Public Housing Museum
icon NPHM Resolution Appointing Ms. Deverra Beverly as Founding Chair.pdf (138 KB)

“Whereas, we the representatives of the residents of public housing in Chicago recognize that we have a legacy to preserve and that through the establishment of a museum our legacy will continue through generations.”
- Resolution of the Central Advisory Council, Chicago Housing Authority, December 2006

 

Recent Press Coverage

American Radioworks Audio Documentary:
Click to listen to: "After the Projects"
Originally aired on Oct. 26th on Chicago Public Radio 91.5FM

Related material:
Post-election day at Altgeld Gardens:
Radio Documentary by Linda Paul with photography by Rich Cahan

 

New!! Join us on Facebook!!

 

Past Programs Archive:

Constructing Community in Public Housing
November 2nd, 2008: Panel Discussion, Chicago Humanities Festival 

Public Housing: Not What You Think
A Public Forum on Gentrification, Public Housing and Change in Chicago Communities: Click here to listen to the panel discussion at the Chicago History Museum on February 5th, 2008 Image 1 Image 2

 

Click here to Donate to Public Housing Museum 

 


Images: Left: Children play in 1952 at Loomis Courts. Breezeways were called "sidewalks in the air" by the Chicago Housing Authority. Photograph by Harry Callahan
Right: The animal court at the Jane Addams Homes during the early 1950s. Statues by artist Edgar Miller are now being conserved. Photograph from the Chicago Housing Authority Archive