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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.

    Care to Look

    A concrete wall with peeling layers of tan and blue paint. Graffiti in the top left corner says “Abandon Hope.” In the bottom left corner, graffiti that once said “ENTER HERE” is peeling off and obstructed so it only reads “NTER HE.”

    Credit: National Public Housing Museum

    Exhibition

    • Throughout interior
      and exterior

    • Free

    Care to Look

    All objects have stories to tell. If you care to look—really look at any object, they reveal important information about the past as it continues into the present. 

    Throughout the National Public Housing Museum, you will encounter objects that were salvaged from the original Jane Addams Homes building that now serves as our home. You are invited to consider what these preserved artifacts from the building have to say about the style, culture, and history of public housing.

    These objects also serve as a constant reminder that our museum building used to be domestic spaces, homes where people once lived and loved.  The objects invite you to expand the horizon of what we consider worth preserving in society.

    Rusted metal mailboxes with several names written and crossed out.
    Mailboxes in situ
    Yellow wall with bits of red paint peeling off of it. On the wall, a sign reads 'FALLOUT SHELTER'.
    Fallout shelter sign in situ
    Rusted trash chute in a brick wall.
    Garbage Chute in situ

    More exhibitions

    Explore what’s on view

    Invitation Wall

    Invitation Wall is the museum’s 40-foot outdoor public art exhibition space that reflects the museum’s commitment to radical hospitality.

    Read more
    Black and white image of a 1940s Jane Addams Homes kitchen. A mother stands at the counter with her two sons.

    Historic Apartments

    Experience the texture and fabric of public housing throughout time by visiting three recreated historic apartments showcasing different families’ experiences at different moments in public housing history between 1938 and 1975. The intimate individual, family and community stories become the lens to understand large national public housing policies and their impact…

    Read more
    Two wooden bookends, each with a copper baby shoe inscribed with the name “Daniel,” sit on a wooden table.

    History Lessons: Everyday Objects from Public Housing

    “What is an object that tells a story about your life and experiences in public housing?” History Lessons: Everyday Objects from Public Housing is a national effort to collect objects from public housing residents in diverse communities across the USA, and work with residents in storytelling and writing workshops to write their own labels…

    Read more

    Exhibition Resources

    Additional resources available at the front desk.

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