Skip to primary menu Skip to main content Skip to footer content

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.

    Taylor Street
    Window Installations

    As you walk down Taylor Street, you will meet one of our founders, Commissioner Deverra Beverly, and learn about the changing neighborhood through the stories of past residents. These exhibits are accessible from the outside of the museum, even when the building is closed.

    Installation

    • Taylor Street side of the NPHM building

    • Free

    Taylor Street Audio Exhibition

    The shape of this Near West Side neighborhood has undergone significant demographic, economic, and cultural shifts through the years. Look out on Taylor Street as you listen to an excerpt of a conversation between two former Jane Addams Homes residents who reflect on their memories of the neighborhood, and the stark differences between them.

    Voice 1: Allen Schwartz, Jane Addams resident: 1943–1954
    Voice 2: Janetta Sue Pegues, Jane Addams and ABLA resident: 1962–1983. Hear Janetta’s full-length, solo interview here.

    Commissioner Deverra Beverly Window

    Amidst the demolition of the Jane Addams Homes, longtime ABLA resident, Commissioner Deverra Beverly came together with her community to save one building. They dreamed of making a museum to tell the important stories of public housing. Learn more about this formidable leader through one of her most precious objects.

    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.

    Discover more as a member.
    Join today.