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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.

    Now open!

    Explore all exhibitions
    A map with a red line and silhouetted figures are projected on a wall

    Historic Apartments

    Three recreated apartments at the heart of the National Public Housing Museum showcase the stories of diverse families who lived in the Jane Addams Homes.

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    Museum visitors look at a midcentury high school letterman sweater

    History Lessons

    History Lessons offers intimate glimpses of life in public housing through everyday objects and personal memories.

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    Collage of photos documenting Operation Breakthrough

    BREAKTHROUGH: Housing Futures

    This immersive exhibition blends historical documentation of HUD’s Operation Breakthrough from the 1970s with new prototypes for urban living from The Housing Futures Initiative.

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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 museum display case with paint chips and a fragment of a wall

    Care to Look

    All objects have stories to tell. Explore artifacts preserved from the Jane Addams Homes and consider what they have to say about the style, culture, and history of public housing.

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