Reflecting the Past and Framing the Future
“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
A Cultural Institution and Historic Site for the Nation
Public housing has had a profound impact on hundreds of thousands of Americans throughout the 20th century. To date, no institution in the country is devoted to telling the 70-year history of public housing. Now Chicago has a unique opportunity to tell this story through the creation of a new cultural institution that will be located in an historic building, one of the city’s earliest public housing residences.
Born out of the early vision of public housing residents, the National Public Housing Museum will bring to life the many stories and voices of residents, and examine public housing’s effect on the larger patterns of community and urban development in Chicago and other U.S. cities. This historic site will draw on the power of place and memory to illuminate the experiences of poor and working class families who have struggled to realize the promise America offered. We believe that such an institution, conceived as a living history museum, can reach through time - to preserve and reveal history - so that the future can learn from the past.
Like other social history museums throughout the world, the National Public Housing Museum will foster the values of diversity, tolerance, citizen participation, and social equity. By examining the many lessons of public housing, both its success and failures, the Museum’s exhibitions and public forums will make important connections to today’s urban challenges. It will give people pause to think, to talk, and to take action on issues that shape us all: family, home, shelter, and community.
The Museum’s creation will require commitment, hard work, and support from many diverse partners. We invite you to read more about plans for the Museum, and to join the effort by becoming a founding member of this exciting new historic and cultural institution.
Related Programs & Exhibitions of Interest:
Field Museum Exhibition:
Click Here to learn more about this exhibition from February 1st until July 6th, 2008
Past Programs Archive:
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 Become a Founding Member
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