Welcome to Dorian H Nash, New Director of Learning and Cultural Workforce Development!

We’re so excited that Dorian H Nash has joined us as Director of Learning and Cultural Workforce Development! Dorian is a native Chicagoan, a mother of two daughters, and an esteemed professional dedicated to fostering diversity, inclusion, and equity within our communities. Dorian joins us with over a decade of dedicated service at the Smart Museum of Art most recently.

As an alumna of the Odyssey Program, Dorian embodies integrity, energy, hard work, and creativity in every endeavor.

Her commitment to fostering greater diversity within our campus community and society has been recognized through her selection as the recipient of the 2024  Diversity Leadership Staff Award by the University of Chicago. This prestigious accolade underscores Dorian's leadership, and creativity in advancing the cause of justice and equity. 

Beyond her professional achievements, Dorian is a multifaceted individual with a passion for writing, directing, playwriting, and hosting Internet TV shows. Her advocacy for empowerment in art and education, particularly for young people, stems from her understanding of the complex needs youth face in pursuit of a well-rounded education. As a parent herself, Dorian is deeply attuned to the transformative power of creativity and art in shaping the lives of individuals. Dorian's love for art, connection, and community involvement is evident in her tireless efforts to promote cultural understanding and engagement. She believes in the profound impact of creativity on the lives of everyday people and aspires to collaborate with like-minded individuals to effect positive change.

In her role as Director of Learning and Cultural Workforce  Development, Dorian hopes to inspire others with her unwavering dedication to diversity,  inclusion, and empowerment. Her exemplary leadership serves as a beacon of hope for a more equitable and just society. Dorian says, “I was drawn to the National Public Housing Museum because it seemed like a natural progression because of my background in public programming and training while I was at the Smart Museum of Art. Coupled with the museum’s unique mission to preserve and celebrate the history of public housing in America. The National Public Housing Museum has the rare opportunity to promote cultural understanding and engagement but with a specific focus on the history and experiences of those living in public housing. As a native Chicagoan, I have a deep appreciation for the diverse communities that make up our great city, and I believe that the stories of public housing residents deserve to be told and honored. I am excited to use my background in cultural workforce development to help create educational programming that is inclusive and empowering for all visitors.”

Welcome, Dorian!

Welcome to Jellystone Robinson, New Assistant Curator and Registrar!

Photo of Jellystone Robinson.

Jellystone Robinson (he/they) has joined our team as assistant curator and registrar! Jellystone is a Black trans-agender lesbian from the Ida B. Wells Extensions on the South Side of Chicago. In his creative practice, he is attempting to retrieve ancestral memory and self actualization through due diligence, time travel, self expression, love and pleasure. This manifests in his work as a creative producer, filmmaker, poet, oral historian, sibling, friend and boyfriend.

In a recent museum blog post, “Hey Love, Got Some Sugar? Meditations on Ms. Beauty Turner, Valentine’s Day, and Communal Love,” Jellystone reflects on different forms of love, kinship, and community. Jellystone’s blog post gives us a peek into a memorial luncheon we held last month for Ms. Beauty Turner, namesake of our oral history academy and housing activist, award-winning journalist, poet, and resident of the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago for 16 years. Along the way, jellystone takes us through memories of his Granny (the original “it girl” of Ida B. Wells E.X.T.s in Chicago!), the museum’s 36 Questions for Civic Love toolkit that bring sstrangers together, thoughts on a neighborhood package thief, and musings on putting timidness aside for love.

Read Jellystone's new museum blog post here!

Welcome to New Board Member Marisa Novara

Marisa Novara.

We’re thrilled to welcome our newest board member, Marisa Novara! Marisa has over 25 years of experience engaging with communities to create programs that drive policy change, and we’re so happy to have her onboard.

Marisa is currently the Vice President of Community Impact at The Chicago Community Trust. In this role, Marisa leads the team that oversees the development and implementation of the Trust’s strategic initiatives, its policy agenda, and grant-making to reduce the racial and ethnic wealth gap in the Chicago region. She has more than 25 years of experience engaging with communities to create innovative programs that respond to their needs and drive policy change. Most recently, Marisa served as Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Housing. She led the passage of nine bills in four years, conducted the country’s first Racial Equity Impact Assessment on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, and in 2021 invested a record $1 billion in affordable housing.

Before joining the City, Novara was vice president of the Metropolitan Planning Council, where she designed and managed the Cost of Segregation project, which concluded how decades-old racial and economic segregation patterns cost the Chicago region an estimated $4.4 billion in additional income each year. She also led the subsequent creation of the region’s first comprehensive guide to a more racially equitable future. Before that, Novara directed affordable rental and for-sale housing development for Lawndale Christian Development Corp. in the North Lawndale community, where she lived and worked for over a decade.

Novara has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in sociology, a master’s degree from the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice, a certificate in affordable housing finance, development, and management from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and master’s in urban planning from the Instituto Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy.

Marisa's connection and commitment to our museum runs deep, she even moderated our book discussion with Richard and Leah Rothstein earlier this year!  Learn more about Marisa.

Welcome to Alexis Clark, New Manager of Human Resources, People, and Culture!

Our new Manager of Human Resources, People, and Culture, Alexis Clark, has been settling in these past few weeks. Lexi (as we call her) is from Evanston, Illinois, and attended Northern Illinois University where she received her undergraduate degree in business psychology. Lexi said she was drawn to the museum because she wanted to work for an organization that prioritizes social justice and represents marginalized and underserved communities.

“The National Public Housing Museum tells stories of forgotten communities and is looking to create a positive culture both within the community and within the organization itself,” she said. “I want to help create a workplace culture that mirrors the values of the museum.
I feel like I can do this by structuring policies that make employees feel seen and valued.”

Welcome, Lexi!

Headshot of Alexi Clark.

National Public Housing Museum Selected for Inaugural Millennium Park Residency Program

We’ve been selected, along with three other Chicago nonprofit organizations, to receive funding and resources to present free public programming as part of Millennium Park’s robust summer season.

The City of Chicago and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE)’s Millennium Park Residency Program (MPRP) provides select cultural organizations each year the resources and platform to showcase their work as part of Millennium Park’s robust summer season of free programming. For the first MPRP cohort, DCASE is excited to announce partnerships with The Chicago Human Rhythm Project, The National Public Housing Museum, Praize Productions, Inc., and the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance. These four nonprofit organizations share DCASE’s commitment to providing high-quality work and will be curating unique and innovative programming throughout Millennium Park in 2023.

“This residency program will provide our creative community with incredible opportunities to share their talent with the rest of our city," said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. "Providing our local creatives with the funding to bring their fresh perspectives and ideas to life on Chicago's largest stage reiterates our commitment to empowering our arts and culture sector, and will ultimately make our city that much more vibrant. I am excited to see what each organization in the first MPRP cohort will create alongside the wealth of free performances and concerts in Millennium Park this summer."

With the support of the Millennium Park Foundation and Pritzker Foundation, DCASE has provided four grants of up to $150,000 to each participating nonprofit cultural organization.

As part of the residency, each organization will present public programs on the Jay Pritzker Pavilion stage: Praize Productions, Inc. (June 4); Chicago Human Rhythm Project (July 23); National Public Housing Museum (August 25), and Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (August 26). Each company will have access to other park cultural amenities to curate, develop, and produce additional free public pop-up programs throughout the summer.

We will be holding a free evening concert on the iconic Pritzker stage on August 25, featuring some incredible artists who have a personal connection to public housing. But that’s not all, we'll also be setting up vinyl question blurbs throughout the park, featuring the 36 Questions for Civic Love. It's the perfect opportunity to get to know your fellow park-goers and fall deeper into civic love.

Additional programming details will be released in the coming weeks when the full Millennium Park Summer Season schedule is released.

“It is an honor to partner with these four important and beloved Chicago organizations. This new residency program will help to diversify the roster of free programs and events that will enliven our downtown and city this summer,” shared DCASE Commissioner Erin Harkey. “We look forward to sharing their programs with the public, and connecting their missions to the millions of people who visit Millennium Park.”

Sign up for our emails to receive updates on the concert and residency.

DJ Spinderella Enters New Territory as Curator for National Public Housing Museum's Music Room

Photo courtesy of DJ Spinderella.

This news was featured in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Root, EURweb, Yahoo, Newcity, Madame Noire, WBEZ Chicago, and hundreds of other publications.

The most influential and iconic female DJ in hip-hop music, DJ Spinderella, will enter new territory in an already-storied career by joining the National Public Housing Museum as Curator of the music room, which celebrates the historic role public housing plays in the development of the American musical landscape.

“The story of public housing’s influence on American musical tradition and culture is largely untold,” said DJ Spinderella. “The National Public Housing Museum will finally tell this story, which is deeply personal to me. This history is also crucial to understanding how American music as a whole, from Country to Rock, Soul to Hip-Hop, evolved and grew out of the close-knit communities within public housing. Music tells us about our history, helps us survive the present, and inspires us to imagine the future.”

Photo courtesy of DJ Spinderella.

Before becoming known the world over as DJ Spinderella, Deidra “Dee Dee” Roper grew up in a three-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn’s Pink Houses with her parents and five siblings. Spinderella recalls memories of a home and community infused with music, thanks to her father’s closets full of records and 45s and the sounds of DJs playing hip-hop on the streets outside the projects.

“Curating the music room at the National Public Housing Museum is important to me, not only because I believe in the museum’s purpose, but because my home is my foundation and music is in my DNA,” continued Spinderella. “My vision for the exhibit and experience will evoke the nostalgia, the vibe, and the environment that shaped our shared musical culture over decades.”

Photo courtesy of DJ Spinderella.

The National Public Housing Museum music room will explore the soundtrack of America, from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, Houston to Chicago, Minneapolis to Memphis. From Country to Klezmer to Jazz, Hip-Hop to Latin Rock, the music that has emerged from public housing projects represents a range of popular sounds that have defined, expanded and challenged our idea of American culture and American identity. Artists as diverse as Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Curtis Mayfield, the Neville Brothers, Mary J. Blige, Jay Z, Nas, and Prince, reveal that the song of America is beautifully diverse.

Photo courtesy of DJ Spinderella.

“It is impossible to understand the American musical landscape without acknowledging and exploring the role public housing played in its development,” said Dr. Josh Kun, Professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, author of Audiotopia, and one of the foremost experts on popular music and its place at the intersection of arts, culture, and politics. “The song of America is endlessly hybrid, heterogeneous, and enriching – a source of comfort and strength for populations who have been taught that their lives do not matter. Spinderella’s engagement with the National Public Housing Museum is a unique opportunity for that story to be told in a way that honors the experiences of so many artists putting people so often marginalized and overlooked into the spotlight.” Kun has also served as an advisor to the music exhibit.

“Spinderella is a legend. Her vast knowledge of music and ability to bring people to the dance floor make her the perfect collaborator as we imagine joyful ways to engage visitors to the Museum,” said our Executive Director Lisa Yun Lee.

Interested in learning more? The news was featured in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Root, EURweb, Yahoo, Newcity, Madame Noire, WBEZ Chicago, and hundreds of other publications.

National Public Housing Museum Names Tiff Beatty Associate Director and Welcomes Three New Leaders

We are excited to announce Tiff Beatty as the new Associate Director and three new leadership team hires: Samantha Wallace as Director of Advancement and Membership, Colleen McGaughey as Director of Development, and Emily Breidenbach as Director of Communications and Community Engagement.

Tiff Beatty, our newly appointed Associate Director, has a breadth of innovative programming and community organizing expertise and will provide strategic leadership to leverage public housing stories to shift policy and remediate gentrification. Tiff previously served as the museum’s visionary Program Director of Art, Culture, and Public Policy and brought numerous transformative programs to life, including the Artists as Instigator residency, Oral History Archives, and Entrepreneurship Hub.

Samantha Wallace, our new Director of Advancement and Membership, will build relationships with stakeholders by diversifying sources of support and strengthening engagement to ensure diversity and equity throughout the museum. Samantha recently served as Development Manager for the Meals on Wheels Foundation of Northern Illinois.

Colleen McGaughey, our new Director of Development, will spearhead fundraising, building meaningful connections with individuals and organizations to grow the Museum’s base of support. Colleen most recently served as Head of Institutional Giving for the Chicago History Museum.

Emily Breidenbach, our new Director of Communications and Community Engagement, will raise awareness and expand audiences through storytelling and outreach. She most recently served as a Director of Marketing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Join us in congratulating Tiff on this promotion and welcome Samatha, Colleen, and Emily and get ready to see some groundbreaking initiatives in the months and years ahead.

Holiday 2022 Closures

The Museum will be closed starting December 23 and we will reopen on January 3. We wish you and yours a safe and happy holiday season!

NPHM Breaks Ground!

Executive Director Lisa Lee, Mayor Lightfoot, Board Chair Sunny Fischer, and many more joined in the groundbreaking ceremony.

This is the day so many have dreamed of.

We celebrated groundbreaking on the National Public Housing Museum. Executive Director Lisa Yun Lee, the Board, and Staff were joined by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, CHA CEO Tracey Scott, Commissioner of Housing Marisa Novara, Khalia Ali, and many more to mark this incredibly special occasion at the site of the last remaining building of the historic Jane Addams Homes.

We wouldn’t be here without the unwavering support of people like you—public housing residents, city officials, housing advocates and activists, preservationists, donors, friends and family, who have helped make today possible. Also spotted in the crowd: Miss Mary Baggett (ABLA), JR Fleming (Cabrini-Green), Francine Washington (Stateway Gardens), Crystal Palmer (Henry Horner), Reverend Marshall Hatch (Jane Addams Homes), Jellystone Robinson (Ida B Wells Homes) and arts, humanities and culture leaders: Dr. Haki Madhubuti, Alex Kotlowitz, Elizabeth Todd Breland, Jamie Kalven, Ben Austen, Rich Cahan, Reginald Robinson, Laura Washington, Chirag Badlini, DCASE Commissioner Erin Harkey, Commissioner Rachel Arfa, Carlos Tortelaro, Anne Lazar, Amanda Williams, Ellen Alberding, Brad White, and more!!

NPHM’s Corner Store Co-op Opens 24/7

Artist William Estrada screen prints the NPHM logo on a tote bag during an Ehub art workshop for teens in December. Photo by Andrew Brandon.

The Corner Store Co-op, owned and operated by public housing residents, launched online (nphmcornerstorecoop.com). NPHM’s version of a museum shop is devoted to the mission of amplifying the entrepreneurial history of public housing and promoting economic equity. In December, the Museum’s Entrepreneurship Hub (EHub) hosted a printing workshop for Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) youth led by artist and educator William Estrada. William teaches accessible printing techniques that are used in the creation of graphic images within a social and political context.

NPHM partnered with teens from the Smart Museum and made several versions of tote bags with the NPHM logo and t-shirts with a waveform graphic.

The co-op is led by a working group of six dynamic, enterprising individuals. Among them is Takisha Smith, an accountant and creative writer living in Chicago.

“During the pandemic, I thought that I was going to be so prolific,” Takisha said. It’s a sentiment many of us understand. Her vision has always been to motivate people and she wanted to tackle some book projects. “But what I learned in 2020 was to mind my own business,” she said, and that truth also became an inspiration. Mind Your Own Business, is the title of the self-help book that Takisha is currently writing. “I went inward and I just started consuming information to help me in what I wanted to do and what I wanted to share. I thought it was going to be for a little while but I got lost,” she said, laughing. Falling down the rabbit research hole can be a rich and rewarding experience even if it turns into an unplanned detour. Like encountering the NPHM webinar on land trusts in the summer of 2020. By the end of that year, she joined the EHub working group.

“I learned that I was a solidarity economics person and I just hadn’t met my people,” said Takisha.

Takisha grew up on Chicago’s South Side. “I was born in Englewood and upgraded to the projects at 41st and Prairie, however, I never knew we were low-income. I never considered us poor. My mom went to work every day,” she said. Takisha lived in public housing from the fifth grade until she went to college at Jackson State University in Mississippi.

With the launch of the co-op’s online store, Takisha is excited to partner with other housing residents and highlight their products and services. “EHub will act as a catalyst for others.” Takisha said she wants to see the shop scale and help create jobs. “I am about bringing employment and opportunity to the community,” for Takisha, particularly as a single parent of four children, it’s important to have good jobs in the neighborhood and not have to commute downtown.

Another dynamic and talented member of the team is Nakia Sims who lives in Houston, Texas.
“I consider myself both an advocate and an agitator, and maybe a couple of different adjectives when it comes to my level of passion,” she said, adding that she stands on the shoulders of public housing activists like Bertha Gilkey (1949-2014). “If not for the advocacy, my children and I would have remained unhoused.”

Nakia has worked as a champion of affordable housing and as a trained lawyer with finely honed research skills, she has helped residents understand contracts and find needed resources.
In 2020, Nakia found her way to NPHM’s EHub program where she learned about the history of cooperatives and in 2020 joined the advisory group. As a lifelong learner, and a poet, with a great skill set, she wanted to help. “And I have a passion for the history of public housing.” Nakia has been researching the history of garlic as well as its health benefits, as one of the products that will be available in the co-op will be garlic that has been grown in community gardens.

“I have been able to grow my business and receive stipends and invest in my children so they are able to realize their dreams,” Nakia said. “I am that voice that says that even while you are living in public housing, you can take a little bit and invest in your children and your business.” For her daughter, this means violin lessons.

Inspired by the tiny home movement, Nakia bought a bus that she plans to transform into a home. Being self-sufficient doesn’t hurt. “I can change my own brakes on a car,” she said.

EDIT: Nakia Sims requested that we clarify that she is not currently practicing as a licensed attorney in any jurisdiction.

Welcome Interns!

"As a displaced and former resident of the Robert Taylor housing projects, and now residing in Englewood on the south side of Chicago, I hope with this research opportunity I will develop a unique understanding of the anthology of gender, labor, citizenship and lives of African Americans from reconstruction to the Civil Rights era, that illuminates the pattern of their vulnerability to state control."

- Troy Gaston

Thanks to a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services in support of the Oral History Archive and Corps, and a partnership with Laura Nussbaum-Barberena at the Roosevelt University Policy Research Collaborative (PRC), the Museum has hired another group of paid interns. PRC interns include Troy Gaston, Sophia Gallo, and Juanairis Castaneda as well as graduate assistant Victoria Limón, who is participating for the second time. While their areas of study range from clinical psychology to sustainability studies, the team’s steadfast commitment to social justice has brought them together to learn how oral histories can be used to create innovative public policy solutions.

The team will be working with Artist As Instigator Tonika Lewis Johnson, using oral history methodologies to engage Chicago's Greater Englewood residents around the history and current impact of racist housing policies and practices such as Land Sale Contracts, as a part of Inequity for Sale.

Meet Tonika Johnson: NPHM’s 2021 Artist-as-Instigator

Chicago-based photographer Tonika Lewis Johnson is a long-time community activist who began documenting Englewood, her South Side neighborhood, as a way of counteracting the numerous media reports and visuals that ignored the positive and focused on the problems. She made beautiful images of the people and beloved spaces of her neighborhood that were exhibited in her hometown at Rootwork Gallery, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Harold Washington Library Center, and Loyola University's Museum of Art.

In 2010, she helped co-found the Resident Association of Greater Englewood (R.A.G.E), with the mission of building relationships and mobilizing people and resources to create positive change. She also co-founded the Englewood Arts Collective in 2017. In her work, Tonika explores segregation and documents the richness of the black community. This approach was the foundation for her critically acclaimed Folded Map project, that visually investigates disparities among Chicago residents and brings them together for conversation. On her website, there are images, videos, and a downloadable action kit for those who wish to expand their knowledge of their surroundings and explore how systemic racism has impacted all facets of our lives.

The Museum is thrilled that Tonika will be the Artist-as-Instigator for the year.

Donor Profile: Ruth Abram

Ruth Abram, the co-founder of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in New York City and founder of The International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (of which NPHM is a proud member), has been a champion of the Museum from the beginning. Ruth served as one of our earliest advisors and we’re fortunate to have her in our corner. “Ruth has transformed and advanced the fields of public history and preservation, by insisting that we tell more inclusive, accessible, and diverse stories that are relevant to social justice and struggles today,” said Dr. Lisa Yun Lee, NPHM executive director. 

Ruth first learned about the NPHM from Sunny Fischer, the Museum co-founder and board president but in a way, her connection to Chicago and the Museum predates that original meeting. As a young woman growing up in the South, Abram came across the autobiography of Jane Addams. “Transfixed by the heroic story of this woman from a background much like mine, I reached up my hand to Jane Addams and let her lift me to a wider world. Such is the power of history, that it can offer role models that may not be otherwise available,” Ruth said in her acceptance speech at the 2019  Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s highest honor.

The story of the Tenement Museum is fascinating and offers many lessons for the NPHM. Ruth had an idea for a museum in 1984 that would tell the story of the city's immigrant past. In 1988,  her colleague Anita Jacobson discovered the building that is now the museum site on Orchard Street. The building had been untouched for 50 years. They were able to lease it until they were able buy it for close to a million. Then they had to raise twice the amount to turn it into a museum. It was a slow process, and they began giving tours almost immediately, before many of the exhibitions and permanent installations where complete. They spent five years on research in order to tell the stories with proper context.

“I will tell you one thing,” Ruth said in a telephone interview, “poverty on the part of the museum actually offered us time to get things right and to experiment with ideas.” When something wasn’t working, they could discard it and start over. “You will find that too,” she said. “We did one apartment at a time and the first one we got the wallpaper wrong and we learned from that. Our understanding of the political and social forces at play at the time on the apartments that we were working on became clearer and clearer, so I don’t regret the time that it took.”

Ruth said that it was moving to see visitors understand history by experiencing the exhibitions and installations, and it will be important for people to see what public housing was like before it became associated with poverty and crime. “It was a great tribute to progressivism and democracy and it attracted the great architects who wanted to participate in this wonderful idea,” she said. Through oral histories, people can learn what public housing was like in the 1930s, for instance, where everyone took turns caring for the public spaces and to learn that they had loved living there. “So often the word poor has so many associations,” said Ruth, who was surprised to learn that tenants were all working people and included law students, nursing students, teachers. “It sounded like a very vibrant place even as it was allowed to deteriorate – not by tenants.” 

Ruth has always identified herself as an activist as well as a social historian. “As soon as you are talking about a social issue, and certainly affordable housing is one of those issues, you ought to be helping people see the relationship of the history to the present day. At the housing museum,  they [visitors] come to meet, in so many words, the families that got to live there with such pride and it ought to raise all sorts of questions about public housing today and affordable housing today.”

For 20 years, Ruth led the Tenement Museum and when she stepped down as president and retired to upstate New York, she quickly embarked on another visionary project – Behold! New Lebanon – a museum of rural life intended to help revitalize the area and support agritourism. As that program continues to grow, she has taken on yet another project – researching the Promised Land Plantation located in Gwinnett, Georgia to help interpret the site. It was owned by her maternal great-great-great grandfather, a slave owner named Thomas Maguire, and it went from being a slave-worked plantation to a place where descendants of those slaves could buy their own land and create a community. It was owned by an African American family, the Livseys, who bought the plantation house in 1920 and lived there until recently.

Stories from the Redline - Lincoln Park: Fire Fire Gentrifier!

Launching on October 19th, Free and Open for All

The tour is available on the VAMONDE app that you can download for free on your phone.

APPLE APP STORE

GOOGLE PLAY STORE

More Resources Coming Soon.

This tour is made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council Agency and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

Welcome Tiff Beatty, our new Program Director of Arts, Culture and Public Policy

Tiff Beatty began working with us in early June. Prior to joining our staff as program director, Tiff worked with the Chicago Humanities Festival as the director of programming. In 2019, she was named a Chicago United for Equity Fellow and received the Field Foundation's 2019 Field Leader Award.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, Tiff is also a spoken word artist, emcee, educator, and the founder of Art Is Bonfire, which takes place on the last Sunday of the month (June-September) at Promontory Point Park in Chicago.

What excites Tiff the most about working with NPHM is our mission.

“The story of public housing in the United States is of personal and professional interest to me,” she said. “Without public programs to provide basic necessities like housing, food, and medical care for families living in poverty, I simply would not be here today.”

Donor Profile: Nicole Jackson

We met Nicole just a few months ago when she joined the host committee for our annual benefit at Lookingglass Theatre. Her law firm, where she is now a partner, contributed a $10,000 sponsorship to the event! 

Nicole has worked with the Chicago-based Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen since 2001, representing developers in a variety of complex low-income and public housing transactions including deals that utilize multiple funding sources, such as FHA-insurance, municipal bonds, HOPE VI, public housing capital funds, state and historic tax credits, and federal programs. 

Asked to share why she believes in the Museum, Nicole said:

“The National Public Housing Museum re-invisions the narrative around public housing by ensuring that we do not forget the long-standing tension between our collective desire to provide decent, affordable housing for all people and our legacy of systemic racism, and amidst that tension, that we celebrate the stories of residents of public housing, stories of community, ingenuity and resilience.”

Nicole is warm, enthusiastic and committed to her community and social justice. We’re delighted that she is part of our Museum family.

NPHM Welcomes a New Summer Intern!

We are delighted to welcome our 2020 summer intern!

Madeleine Aquilina, a first year graduate student in art history at the University of Michigan, will be building on prior research to develop an exhibition brief on the history of housing activism. She is being supported by a grant from her department. Madeleine is also working with a university gallery to create public programs. From her conversations with housing advocates, Madeleine plans to contribute an audio piece for the Out of the Archives! series. 

As an undergraduate at Oberlin College, Madeleine researched Villa Victoria, a community-designed public housing project in Boston’s South End where, in 1968, the city sought to displace Puerto Rican residents in order to redevelop the neighborhood. A native of Boston, Madeleine is no stranger to the Windy City. Before going to graduate school, she spent two years here working as an advocate for the Illinois Tenants Union, and working with Legal Aid to support folks who were facing eviction in Cook County. 

Madeleine is thrilled to be able to spend time in Chicago again and says that she missed the lake, Logan Square, the always lively local politics, and the techno/house music scene. 

“I am excited to work at an institution leading the way in imagining what an activist museum could be. It is incredibly gratifying to dive into research that I expect will be public facing.” 

An Interview with Meryland Gonzalez

Meryland Gonzales and her belts, trophies and medals.

Our friends at the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) shared the inspiring story of teen boxer Meryland Gonzales. Considered a success story already, HACLA sat down with Meryland in her home to learn about her dream to change the world – one fight at a time. 

At only 13 years of age, Meryland has overcome many obstacles. Hailing from Gonzaque Village in Watts, this rising star began boxing as a 6-year-old. Having already won numerous belts, trophies, and medals — proudly displayed on her bedroom wall and dresser — she now has her eyes set on representing Team USA in the 2024 Olympics. Even with this big goal in mind, Meryland’s community remains close to her heart and one day she hopes to create a boxing gym in her neighborhood, bringing exposure and opportunities to other children just like her. 

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HACLA: Please tell us your full name and age.

Meryland: My name is Meryland Celeste Gonzalez Herrera. I’m 13 years old.

HACLA: How long have you lived in Gonzaque?

MG: My parents moved here when I 5 months… so basically, my whole life.

HACLA: And where do you go to school?

MG: I attend St. Lawrence of Brindisi right up the street. It’s a Catholic School.

HACLA: Do you have a favorite subject?

MG: Yes; I love Math and Science. It’s really a love and hate relationship. But I love the fact that math challenges me and makes me learn different ways of solving [one problem].

HACLA: Tell us a little more about your childhood. Were there any obstacles you had to overcome?

MG: Yes, there have been many obstacles… For one, convincing my parents to let me box! My mom wasn’t agreeable at first. She was afraid for me to get hit in the face. But it’s my passion. They support me now, but we can’t always afford to travel (hotel, food, plane tickets) to each tournament, so that’s hard sometimes. I’ve also had people tell me I can’t fight… that I can’t do this. Although it hurts to hear, I’m a human being with emotions, it motivates me to prove them wrong.

HACLA: Good for you!

MG: Yeah. Another obstacle was when I was 6 years old, I got sick and lost my memory. I couldn’t hold a spoon…. I was getting constant headaches and stomachaches. I was in treatment for 3 years and from hospital to hospital for about two months. I’m better now, but the Doctors never found out the reason. They believe it was a virus.

HACLA: Wow. That had to be terrifying for your parents! Can you talk a bit more about your family?

MG: My parents have always been there for me. I truly appreciate everything they’ve done for me. I wouldn’t be the person I am if it weren’t for them.

HACLA: And do you have any siblings?

MG: I do. I have a younger sister; she’s 5. And my older sister, Araceli, is 17. She always had the dream to be a national champion ice skater, but she couldn’t accomplish it. I used to see how hard she trained for 5 years… That really motivates me to keep fighting because I really look up to her. I win for her…

HACLA: It sounds like you’re really close to your big sister. That’s a special relationship.

MG: She really makes me proud and she’s always there for me. We’re just there for each other always. We both want to do big things in our community… Like make a gym for the kids at Nickerson (Gardens), Jordan (Downs), Avalon… We want to bring them together to make a team so they can get that same experience that we’ve had.

HACLA: That’s very impressive and inspiring! How long have you been boxing? How were you exposed to the sport?

MG: I’ve been boxing since I was 6 years old.

HACLA: So around the time you got really sick?

MG: Yes.

HACLA: Were your parents at all concerned that your sickness was connected to boxing?

MG: No. My sickness was unrelated to boxing and my dad was with me when it first happened. I was punching the bag and my nose just started bleeding… I started walking sideways…

HACLA: If it was from boxing you might not still be doing it today! So how were you exposed to the sport? MG: My family used to watch a lot of boxing. No one is a boxer in my family. I’m first generation. I said, ‘Dad, I want to try that!’ He said, ‘you’re crazy!’ (Laughter.) My parents had me in music, ballet, dance… But I wasn’t interested in any of that. My dad promised if I got good grades, he would take me to the gym to train. Even after I got good grades, he tried changing the subject many times. But eventually, he took me.

HACLA: And now he’s your biggest fan, right?

MG: Yep! My whole family actually… We’re all in this together. They’re always encouraging me and motivating me.

HACLA: Who is/are your favorite boxer(s)?

MG: Floyd Mayweather and Claressa Shields. They came from a place where they didn’t have that much support. They came from the bottom and now they’re professional boxers that everyone looks up to. I truly admire them; not because they’re famous but for their way of fighting. And I can relate to them.

HACLA: How do you feel boxing has changed your life?

MG: Boxing has changed my life in many different ways. Boxing has kept me on the right path and it’s made me see many different perspectives. It’s made me see how hard my parents work for a better future and success in life. It has shown me what I want to do for my community and also for myself. Boxing has taught me that there’s many different ways to solve something. Many people think boxing is a hatred sport. But it’s actually the opposite. At the end of the day, you show how much respect you have your opponent. They’re the person who makes you train harder. At the end of the day, everything is about sportsmanship.

HACLA: Where do you train?

MG: Casillas Boxing Gym in Lynwood.

HACLA: Can you walk us through a typical day? What is your routine?

MG: I wake up at 6:30am (and my Aunt comes to pick up my little sister). I walk with my cousin to school around 7:30am. I get out of school at 2:30pm and we head to the gym around 4pm. I have to change quick and eat really fast (laughs). At the gym, my coach tells me what workout to do… I leave the gym around 6:30pm, depending on if I’m training for a tournament or not. Then, I shower, do my homework and sleep around 9:30-10pm.

HACLA: Sounds like a pretty good day.

MG: You have to be dedicated. If you stop even one day, you notice the difference…

HACLA: Do you train on the weekends too?

MG: Yes. Sometimes my dad and I wake up at 5am to go running.

HACLA: Do you have a specific diet?

MG: In my family, we have the mindset of always eating healthy… so it isn’t a diet. It’s just a lifestyle. I drink a lot of water. Sometimes I don’t like vegetables (laughs) but I eat them because I know they’re going to benefit me.

HACLA: It seems to be paying off! Looking at the wall behind you, there are a lot of medals and awards. Can you tell us about an accomplishment you’re most proud of so far?

MG: I have three. But I’ll tell you about one. The WBC (World Boxing Council) I fought two times; it was a really hard fight. I had the mindset of entering the show and winning for my dad. It was Father’s Day. It’s a really competitive show. By winning, I know I made my dad proud. He was crying.

HACLA: That’s really sweet. He’ll remember that forever. What are your goals as it pertains to a boxing career?

MG: I want to become a part of Team USA and fight internationally. There’s a Tournament in December. If you win, you get a request for Team USA (Olympics 2024).

HACLA: What’s one piece of advice you’d like to give to anyone who reads this?

MG: We sometimes have to take risks in order to see the world differently. Listen to your parents and get your education because education’s the number one thing you should do. No matter where you come from, always follow what your heart wants to do. Never give up. Yes, there are a lot of obstacles, but take them as motivation to keep going.

HACLA: That’s great advice! Any additional dreams/aspirations outside of boxing?

MG: I want to graduate high school, go to university, get a degree and become a judge so I can help the world and make an impact on the community. I want to be someone…make my mark.

HACLA: You already are.

MG: Thank you.

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Donny Joubert & Pervis “Hank” Henderson of Nickerson Gardens Boxing Academy