National Public Housing Museum

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National Public Housing Museum

National Public Housing Museum The only cultural institution devoted to telling the story of public housing in the United States.

Our mission is to preserve, promote, and propel the right of all people to a place where they can live and prosper — a place to call home.

02/28/2025

Thanks to Senator Dick Durbin’s team, Tran Nguyen and Christian Huerta, for visiting the National Public Housing Museum recently to get a sneak peek at our exhibits that help to create a world where everyone has a place to call home. Together with the Museum’s amazing staff, Gentry and Nicole, practicing radical hospitality.

02/12/2025

Together with our friends Court Theatre and their landmark production of the play “A Raisin in the Sun,” we’re sharing some book recommendations that feature Black American experiences and reflections on home, social mobility, and dreams deferred.

The reading list was pulled together with our program partners as a resource for this week’s “A Dream Deferred” conversations about the history of housing injustice. Head over to our blog and explore ten books that shed light on some of today’s most urgent inequities with wit, suspense, and humor: https://nphm.org/reading-list-black-mobility-and-housing/

02/10/2025

A beautiful public housing story from a fly Super Bowl player- style as an act of resistance DeAndre Hopkins' Super Bowl fit has been in the works for years
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/08/nx-s1-5288864/super-bowl-deandre-hopkins-chiefs-mink-jacket. DeAndre Hopkins

Many of the players in Sunday's Super Bowl will arrive at the stadium dressed to the nines. But one — Kansas City wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins — will be wearing something extra special.

01/20/2025

In the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words and actions reverberated throughout the Hatch household in the Jane Addams Homes. The Chicago Freedom Summer’s focus on racial equity and fair housing informed the family’s activism for peace and justice. We are honored to share the Hatch family’s intimate recollections of this time—in an audio tour narrated by Lil Rel Howery and written by Nate Marshall—when we open soon. The recreated Hatch family apartment is the heart of the National Public Housing Museum, offering an ongoing invitation to reflect on Dr. King’s immense legacy and a daily call to act against persistent racial and social injustices.

01/16/2025

We're excited to be a part of the American Council of Learned Societies Leading Edge Fellowship program, which places recent humanities PhDs with nonprofit organizations committed to promoting social justice in their communities.

Applications are now open for 2025 ACLS Leading Edge Fellowships! The program will offer 16 recent humanities PhDs the opportunity to join nonprofits committed to advancing justice in their communities: https://bit.ly/3CcZAT0

01/15/2025

"Rest in Power to my dear friend Jose “Cha Cha” Jimenez. Your mark on this city will never be forgotten. Thank you for your contribution to the liberation of ALL people. All Power to the people!” wrote former U.S. Congressman Bobby L. Rush.

NPHM sends condolences to friends, famaily and organizers who owe a huge debt to Jose "Cha Cha" Jimenez. NPHM explores the history of the Young Lords in the city of Chicago with Fire, Fire, Gentrifier Walking Tour.

Through photos, oral history, music, and dance, the NPHM and Blu Rhythm Collective are proud to present Stories from the Redline: Fire Fire Gentrifier, a self-guided tour of a people’s history of Lincoln Park. This tour excavates the hidden and repressed history of urban renewal, and explores the struggles of the Young Lords to organize, raise political awareness, and resist gentrification. https://pocketsights.com/tours/tour/Chicago-Stories-from-the-Redline%3A-Fire-Fire-Gentrifier%21-7397

https://chicagodefender.com/jose-cha-cha-jimenez-civil-rights-leader-and-young-lords-founder-dies-at-76/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Jos%C3%A9%20%20Cha%20Cha%20%20Jim%C3%A9nez%2C%20Civil%20Rights%20Leader%20and%20Young%20Lords%20Founder%2C%20Dies%20at%2076&utm_campaign=Newsletter%3A%20Chicago%20Defender%20-%20Digital%20Daily%202025&vgo_ee=hlOLdwSj4tpgCDWjowQLld5ApQrXtx6RWPg9J7gZ7TAV3cTO%3AeIh%2BryzCNCsYH2QWnCXC8E%2F8rph5F6lr

Through photos, oral history, music, and dance, the NPHM and Blu Rhythm Collective are proud to present Stories from the Redline: Fire Fire Gentrifier, a self-guided tour of a people's history of Lincoln Park.

12/30/2024

We celebrate and recognize the life of President Jimmy Carter, who moved into public housing in 1953 in Plains, Georgia with Rosalyn, his wife, and their three sons due to a limited income. He spent his life advocating for affordable housing. Rest in Peace.

Carter spent a week helping to renovate a six-story building on East 6th Street in 1984.

12/26/2024

Wishing you a season filled with joy and doing what makes you happy! 🎾❄️

Show your support of the National Public Housing Museum today—donating is a wonderful way to close out 2024 and bring great vibes to the new year! Please consider giving by the end of 2024 and join our mission to preserve, promote, and propel the right of all people to a place to call home.

Give today at https://nphm.org/donate

📷 Two people play tennis at the Cabrini-Green Tennis Courts, December 1976. ST-20003324-0018, Chicago Sun-Times collection, Chicago History Museum.

12/24/2024

Finally back home—after 20 years in storage, animal sculptures designed by Edgar Miller are being reinstalled at the former Jane Addams Homes. Read more about the restoration of “Animal Court” from Lee Bey in today’s Chicago Sun-Times: https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2024/12/22/edgar-miller-sculpture-homecoming-jane-addams-homes-architecture-lee-bey

12/18/2024

12/17/2024

We’ve got stories for you! At the National Public Housing Museum, oral histories of people with meaningful connections to public housing inspire everything we do. Your generosity helps us present a diverse and complex picture of life in public housing—the hardships, the joys, and the deep community bonds.

Join us in sharing truths that inspire change and consider making a gift today at https://www.nphm.org/donate

12/12/2024

Miss our Artist as Instigator event last week? A recording of the talk is now available! Stream to learn more about Natasha Florentino's past documentary work and future plans for the residency.

Meet Natasha Florentino, a documentary filmmaker exposing the roots and consequences of housing injustice.In this virtual talk, Natasha shares her past work ...

12/10/2024

Rest in Power Nikki Giovanni. Your commitment to black joy forever inspires our work.
…
I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal/I cannot be comprehended/except by my permission/I mean … I … can fly/Like a bird in the sky …

12/05/2024

12/04/2024

Through documentary films, Natasha Florentino exposes the roots and consequences of housing injustice. We hope you will join us virtually this week as Natasha shares her past work and speaks about her National Public Housing Museum 2024-2025 Artist as Instigator residency project, “The Public Record” (working title), a new documentary film that follows current residents who oppose the proposed demolition of two public housing developments in Chelsea, Manhattan.

Learn more and RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/share/18CKZpKoAH/

Stills from the work in progress, “The Public Record.” Photo of Natasha Florentino by Eugene Krasnaok.

12/03/2024

This Giving Tuesday, your gift helps us achieve a bold vision. Together, we are building an institution that is much more than a museum. It is a workforce training center that leverages the rich cultural capital of public housing residents. It is a community anchor that provides a welcoming, free space for people to gather. It is a civic incubator that inspires visitors to take informed action for housing justice.

Because of your generosity this Giving Tuesday, the National Public Housing Museum models a world of abundant opportunity where everyone has a place to call home.

Please consider donating today: https://nphm.org/donate

11/26/2024

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919 South Ada Street
Chicago, IL
60607

Website

https://www.nphm.org/

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Videos

HOOPcycle by Marisa Morán Jahn and Rafi Siegel - taking it for a spin around the neighborhood as the mural OOPS gets painted.

We're just days away from our A Place to Call Home Gala. We're excited to honor Power of Place awardee, Kim Foxx, a former resident of Cabrini-Green Homes and Cook County State’s Attorney. Did you know that we have Kim's oral history recording in our Oral History Archive? In the future, you’ll be able to listen to her memories of growing up in Cabrini-Green Homes on our website, home to the nation’s largest collection of public housing residents’ oral histories! In the meantime, here's a clip!

Our Corner Store Co-op is hiring a Museum Store Operations and Project Manager! This role is an awesome opportunity for someone to support the Cornerstorecoop which partners with public housing residents to offer custom clothing, handmade accessories, books, limited edition zines, and more. ✔ Community-oriented role ✔ Partner with youth, artists, designers, and entrepreneurs from public housing ✔ Temp. contractor role with the potential to become a worker-owner ✔ $4,500/month stipend Learn more and apply today: https://cornerstorecoop.com/jobs/

This holiday season, we are bringing you a 90-second story from Lynn Bowens of New York City’s Rangel Houses that sparkles with warmth and nostalgia. In sharing her vivid memories of festive decor in her public housing development, she calls to mind the spirit of home and community. Lynn’s narrative is part of our Oral History Archive, which is the wellspring of the stories we preserve and share. Please make a gift today at www.nphm.org/donate. When you donate to our annual fund, you’re investing in the power of storytelling, art, and civic engagement to inspire new ways to address housing insecurity. We are grateful for your support. In these times, we hope you enjoy this small moment of cheer. #Holidays #PublicHousing #OralHistory #RangelHouses