National Public Housing Museum Awarded $500,000 from
The National Endowment for the Humanities
The NEH’s Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant supports the rehabilitation of the Museum’s permanent home.
The National Public Housing Museum received a $500,000 Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in support of its permanent site in the only remaining building of the Jane Addams Homes on Chicago’s Near West Side.
“The NEH grant is a vote of confidence for national significance of our mission to tell the story of the American experience in public housing,” says Dr. Lisa Yun Lee, Executive Director of the NPHM, “as part of the ongoing work to address housing insecurity, and our work to propel housing as a human right.”
Originally designed by lead architect John Holabird in 1938, the Taylor Street building was saved from demolition and resourcefully reimagined as the National Public Housing Museum. The Museum draws on the power of place and memory to interpret the history of the building, collect and interpret material culture, and gather oral histories. Within this historic space – the first federal government housing project in Chicago and the largest artifact in the Museum’s collection – compelling firsthand stories of public housing residents will be brought together with thoughtful humanities and interdisciplinary scholarship to inspire dialogue and civic engagement. Some of the country’s leading humanities scholars, including Dr. Larry Vale, Dr. Mary Pattillo, and Dr. Barabra Ransby, have participated as advisors to the Museum.
To meet this challenge grant, the National Public Housing Museum needs to raise $1,500,000. This gift is part of the ongoing fundraising of the private phase of the NPHM capital campaign. The capital campaign of $16,700,000 is planning for a public launch within the next few months.
The rehab of the building will include a new entrance and vestibule featuring a public artwork by Amanda Williams and Olalekan Jeyifous, a Storytelling Space, three restored historic apartments, a gallery for rotating exhibitions, open artifact storage, a co-op shop, office space, and the Entrepreneurship Hub that is currently funded by an Institute for Museum and Library Sciences Community Catalyst Grant. The restored Animal Court – seven concrete statues designed by Edgar Miller in 1937 and beloved by residents for decades – will be placed in the Museum courtyard with support from the National Endowment of the Arts. Landon Bone Baker Architects will design the Museum project to comply with Chicago’s Sustainable Development Policy and the Museum will include a commitment to the broadest definition of diversity inclusion and accessibility. The Museum, currently operating out of a small, temporary space at 625 N. Kingsbury, will open in its permanent home at 1322 W. Taylor Street following the completion of its capital campaign.
