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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.

    Museum Exhibitions

    We look forward to welcoming you to the National Public Housing Museum.

    Located in the last remaining building of the historic Jane Addams Homes, our museum is committed to preserving the profound legacy of public housing and fostering a nuanced understanding of its impact on communities.

    Admission is free with tickets required for the Historic Apartment Tours. Tickets are coming soon.

    Exhibitions

    Explore what’s coming
    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…

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    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…

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    On a sideways piece of lined notebook paper with old fashioned handwritten text, a pencil drawing of three indigenous women wrapped in blankets look directly at the viewer. At the top of the page is a sliver of a Chicago street map.

    Still Here

    Still Here uses art, archives, and public dialogue to explore and connect histories of displacement on the land where the National Public Housing Museum is located. As an institution that addresses displacement of public housing residents, we also want to understand the forcible removal of Indigenous peoples that came before and grapple with how those experiences are interwoven…

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    A screen-printed poster shows a black blob with squiggly lines that depict a virus or bacteria and a sun shining on towards it on a light-blue background. The text reads, “PLANNED HOUSING FIGHTS DISEASE.”

    Art for All, Posters for the People

    No government program has left a more visible legacy on the American landscape than the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration. Along with the construction of hundreds of federally funded buildings, including the Jane Addams Homes, the program employed thousands of artists.

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    A black and white image from the 1940s shows a courtyard surrounded by brick buildings. In the courtyard, children in swimsuits play in water spraying out from the concrete and climb on stone animal statues surrounding the fountain.

    Animal Court

    Experience the enchanting seven-piece sculpture Animal Court by Edgar Miller, which has been lovingly restored and placed in our courtyard. The sculpture garden is free and open to the public during museum hours…

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    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.”

    Care to Look

    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…

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