Your gift means so much

On a bright day last May, the essence of the National Public Housing Museum was on full display.

Neighbors gathered in front of our building, filling their plates with barbecue and mac ’n’ cheese while kids chased each other around the Edgar Miller sculptures in our Animal Court. Inside, renowned artists Amanda Williams and Olalekan Jeyifous spoke to a full room of public housing residents, cultural workers, and civic leaders. We were celebrating the unveiling of Resilient Hues, their vibrant glass installation that frames the entrance to our new home, offering an exuberant “Welcome!” to all who enter.

Our historic site, which was once the Jane Addams Homes, is filled with objects that tell multifaceted stories, and Resilient Hues is no different. Glance up, and you see a burst of color that feels like celebration. Look closer, and you notice fragments of wallpaper and peeling paint—salvaged traces of former residents’ style and self-expression. You begin to understand that you’re entering a space where struggle coexists with joy, where the past speaks to the present, and where memory is alive in every corner.

We are the only museum dedicated to interpreting the American experience of public housing. Our “why” is rooted in storytelling that resists harmful dominant narratives, reclaims erased histories, and nurtures the will to advocate for just housing policies that are so urgently needed. We hold fast to John Berger’s insistence that “never again shall a single story be told as though it were the only one.”

And our “how”? That comes in many forms.

It’s in the garden hose in our History Lessons gallery, recalling neighbors tending their flowers together. It’s in the Supremes record you can play on a turntable, crooning about the creativity and connection fostered in close quarters. It’s even in the peanut brittle you sample on our Historic Apartment tour, telling of how Helen Hatch made magic in the kitchen with little money and lots of love.

But our biggest “how” is you.

Your support makes it possible for the National Public Housing Museum to share these vital stories—at a time when historical accountability and civic imagination are more important than ever. In this monumental year, as we opened our doors after years of dreaming and planning, we are reminded that memory matters, and that spaces like ours are essential for shaping a more just future.

Your support helps us harness the power of storytelling to advance housing as a human right.

Thank you for helping us build a Museum—and a movement— rooted in community, history, and hope.

Sincerely,

Lisa Yun Lee, PhD
Executive Director and Chief Curator

Sunny Fischer
Chair, Board of Directors