National Public Housing Museum facts for kids
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| Location | 919 South Ada Street Chicago, Illinois 60607 United States |
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The National Public Housing Museum is a special place in Chicago, Illinois. It's a museum that tells the stories of people who lived in public housing. Public housing is a type of affordable housing built by the government to help families. This museum is inside the very last building of the old Jane Addams Homes.
The museum has a collection of oral histories. These are recordings of people sharing their life stories. It also offers fun programs for visitors. You can see three apartments inside the museum. These apartments have been made to look like they did when families lived there. The building itself opened in 1938. It was the first government-built housing project in Chicago. Thousands of families lived there for over 60 years. The building has been empty since 2002, but now it's home to this important museum.
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How the Museum Started
The idea for this museum began in the 1990s. At that time, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) planned to tear down many public housing buildings. They wanted to build new homes where different types of families could live together.
Some residents, led by Deverra Beverly, wanted to save a building. They wanted a place to remember the history of public housing. Ms. Beverly and other residents talked to Sunny Fischer. Sunny Fischer used to live in public housing too. They all worked together to create the museum. Other people joined them, like historians and community leaders. They wanted to save this important building. The museum always makes sure to share the voices of people who lived in public housing. About one-third of the museum's board members are former public housing residents.
What You Can See and Do
The museum's main goal is to show that having a home is a basic human right. They do this by sharing personal stories. They also create programs for the community.
Museum Exhibits
The museum has many interesting exhibits:
- Oral History Archive: This is a collection of recorded stories. People who lived in public housing share their memories.
- Restored Apartments: You can visit three apartments. They show how different families lived. One apartment is based on a Russian Jewish family's story. Another shows an Italian-American family's home. The third is about an African American family. These apartments are based on real stories from people like Inez Medor and Rev. Marshall Hatch Sr.
- Redlining Presentation: One apartment has a special presentation about "redlining." Redlining was a practice that made it hard for some people to buy homes in certain areas. It has visuals by Manual Cinema and a script by scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor.
- Museum Ambassadors: Eight people who currently live in public housing work at the museum. They are called "ambassadors." They lead tours and teach visitors about the exhibits.
Music and TV Shows
- The REC Room: This exhibit features music by famous artists. All these musicians once lived in public housing! You might recognize names like Jimi Hendrix, Bobby Brown, Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, and members of the Wu-Tang Clan. Many of the records were given by DJ Spinderella. She was a member of the group Salt-N-Pepa and also lived in public housing.
- Good Times Exhibit: There's also an exhibit about the TV show Good Times. This show was set in Chicago's Cabrini-Green public housing. People who lived in Cabrini-Green helped decide which episodes to show.
Community Programs
Before the museum officially opened, it was active in the community. It hosted events like storytelling and poetry readings. They also helped clean up the museum site. The museum has partnered with the Oral History Summer School. This program teaches people how to collect and use oral histories. This helps the museum grow its collection of stories. The museum is part of a group called the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. This means they connect history to current issues and efforts to make things better.
The museum got ideas from other famous museums. These include the Apartheid Museum, the District Six Museum, the Tenement Museum, and the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum.
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