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Reading Room Office Hours: The Robert Taylor Homes

Installation view of resource room with books on a rail shelf, seating, and a digital screen

with Dr. Brad Hunt

  • National Public Housing Museum, 919 S. Ada Street, Chicago, IL 60607

  • Free

Drop by and join in a series of civic conversations about the history of the Robert Taylor Homes.

Throughout the summer, join us in the reading and resource room within the exhibition Nathaniel Mary Quinn: A Love Letter to My Mother for conversations, oral history listening sessions, and other programming with residents, scholars, and housing activists.

On June 14, the office hours feature Dr. Brad Hunt, Professor of History, Loyola University Chicago, and author of the essay “What Went Wrong With Public Housing in Chicago? A History of the Robert Taylor Homes,” in the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, and the book Blueprint for Disaster: The Unraveling of Chicago Public Housing.

FREE, drop-in.

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Nathaniel Mary Quinn: A Love Letter to My Mother.

This Robert Taylor Home reading room is made possible by the Department of History at Loyola University Chicago in honor of Professor Brad Hunt.


Office Hours Schedule

Ron Carter
Sunday, May 31, 1–3 pm
Office hours and conversation with Ron Carter, a former Robert Taylor Homes resident and community organizer.

Dr. Brad Hunt
Sunday, June 14, 1–3 pm
Office hours and conversation with Brad Hunt, Professor of History, Loyola University Chicago.

Larry Turner
Saturday, July 11, 1–3 pm
Listening session and conversation with Larry Turner around the legacy of Beauty Turner (1957–2008), a Robert Taylor Homes resident, public housing advocate, mother, journalist, poet, and the namesake of our oral history training program.

Sequane Lawrence
Sunday, August 9, 1–3 pm
Listening session and conversation Sequane Lawrence, former Robert Taylor Homes resident and the President and CEO of Revolution Institute.


Upcoming events

Dusty scan of a vintage photograph showing green space surrounding a public housing complex

Inside/Outside: The Connection Between Parks, Housing, and Vibrant Communities

Exploring how safe, accessible, and high-quality outdoor spaces can strengthen public housing communities, in collaboration with Trust for Public Land

Aerial view of the National Public Housing Museum

Open House Chicago

Explore our civic and cultural home on Chicago’s near West Side as part of Open House Chicago 2026.

Detail of an landscape plan showing trees and green spaces as part of a housing complex

Chat with the Architects: Women and Public Housing Architecture

Meet Terran Wilson and Mejay Gula for an Open House Chicago chat about women and public housing architecture.