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When Jillian’s brother passed away, the footwork community surrounded her and she learned life lessons that not only kept her safe but also prepared her to educate Chicago’s youth. End this season, Out of the Archives: Black Creative Innovation in Chicago Public Housing, with this life history of dance on the Far South Side.  Episode transcript here: Ep 32 | Jillian Carew: "A Beautiful Struggle" For more info and show notes, visit: nphm.org/jillian-carew-a-beautiful-struggle

Writing, acting, singing, directing, producing—Jackie Taylor can do it all. But rather than follow one of the limited options available to Black performing artists, Taylor instead charted her own path, founding the Black Ensemble Theater with the mission to eradicate racism. Listen to how Taylor’s fearless drive empowered her to create this pillar of Black excellence.  Episode transcript here: Jackie Taylor: "Another Sense of Existence" | Ep. 31 For more info and show notes, visit: nphm.org/jackie-taylor-another-sense-of-existence

Thomas “Tom Tom 84” Washington, founder of the South Side Big Band, has composed music with Earth, Wind, and Fire, the Chi-Lites, Phil Collins, and countless more stars. In “You Hear What I Do,” learn about how growing up in the Ida B. Wells Homes shaped him into a prolific contributor to the soundtrack of America.  Episode transcript here: Ep. 30 | TomTom 84: "You Hear What I Do" For more information and show notes, visit: https://nphm.org/tom-tom-washington-you-hear-what-i-do/

Rooted in the vibrant music and dance scene of 1950s-1960s Cabrini Green Homes, blues/jazz singer Katherine Davis dreamed of singing in all the buildings in downtown Chicago that she could see from her window. Listen to her journey of becoming a professional musician.   Note: This interview was conducted on Zoom in 2021, and has some jumpiness in audio quality.  Episode transcript here: Katherine Davis: "Make Something from within Yourself" For more info and show notes, visit: ⁠nphm.org/katherine-davis-make-something-from-within-yourself/

DJ Slugo grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes in the 70s and 80s with DJs all around him. In Episode 28 of Season 5: Black Creative Innovation in Chicago Public Housing, hear how he and his peers took the existing music landscape in Chicago and the country, and remixed a new sound to meet their generation’s experiences. Episode transcript here: Ep. 28 | DJ Slugo: "Bastard Children of House Music" For more info and show notes, visit: nphm.org/dj-slugo-bastard-children-of-house-music This interview was conducted by Dr. ShaDawn “Boobie” Battle as a part of her 2025 Chicago Archives + Artists residency with the National Public Housing Museum, sponsored by Sixty Inches from Center.

One of Nekita Thomas’s first creative role models was her mother, who remixed everyday materials like milk crates into bedframes, and so much more. Listen as Nekita shares memories of living in Chicago’s Dearborn Homes, and hear how witnessing the designs of the everyday in public housing—from the innovative to the restrictive—led to her becoming an Associate Professor of Design at University of Illinois.  Episode transcript here: ⁠Ep. 27 | Nekita Thomas: "The Artsy Kid in the Hood"⁠ For more info and show notes, visit: nphm.org/nekita-thomas-the-artsy-kid-in-the-hood This interview was conducted by Dr. ShaDawn “Boobie” Battle as a part of her 2025 Chicago Archives + Artists residency with the National Public Housing Museum, sponsored by Sixty Inches from Center.

Chicago public housing has fueled creative practices, from design to music to dance. Across Season 5 of the National Public Housing Museum’s flagship podcast, Out of the Archives, listen to abridged interviews with public housing residents whose innovations helped put Chicago and Black creative practices on the map. Narrators also reflect on finding new ways to survive, nourishing community, preserving history, and reclaiming agency over their own stories. Their contributions continue to stoke the creative renaissance in the city today. Coming soon: Nekita Thomas: “The Artsy Kid in the Hood,” Episode 27DJ Slugo: “Bastard Children of House Music,” Episode 28Katherine Davis: “Make Something from Within Yourself,” Episode 29Tom Tom Washington: “You Hear What I Do,” Episode 30Jackie Taylor: “Another Sense of Existence,” Episode 31Jillian Carew: “A Beautiful Struggle,” Episode 32 Photos in trailer cover art are the narrators in the order listed above.

Demolition and displacement are a part of environmental injustice and the climate crisis. With that in mind, how do we remember and center the needs of the land and the wishes of the residents when it comes to decision making for public housing? Two neighbors from New York and Miami weigh in. We hope these stories empower us towards a world that centers living beings and lived experience. Episode transcript here.  Narrators: Anna Williams and Renee Keitt.  Additional featured audio excerpts from Razing Liberty Square (Katja Esson, 2023) and A Home Worth Fighting For (Natasha Florentino, 2025). Ms. Williams’s interview is also curated in episode 25.  Sources and additional reading/watching: We strongly encourage those interested in these resident campaigns to support the two documentaries at the top of the list. You can purchase a viewing pass to Razing Liberty Square or sign up for Natasha Florentino’s future screenings mailing list at the links below. This support goes a long way! Katja Esson, Razing Liberty Square (2023), published by Women Make Movies, organizations can buy or book a screening at: https://www.wmm.com/catalog/film/razing-liberty-square/. Individuals can watch on PBS here: https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/razing-liberty-square/ Natasha Florentino, A Home Worth Fighting For (2025), accessed via filmmaker. More information about future screenings at: https://www.natashaflorentino.com/ahwff. T.C. Documentaries, “Overtown, Miami (Short History of South Florida's Overtown Neighborhood),” accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b6_INnChIM Digital Scholarship Lab at University of Richmond, “Renewing Inequality: Urban Renewal, Family Displacements, and Race 1950-1966,” published by American Panorama (20, ed. Robert K. Nelson and Edward L. Ayers), accessed at: https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/renewal/#view=0/0/1&viz=cartogram&text=definingTerry Gross, “A ‘Forgotten History’ of How the U.S. Government Segregated America” (2017), published by NPR, accessed at: https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america United States of America 81st Congress, “Housing Act of 1949” (1949, last amended 2024), accessed at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-10349/pdf/COMPS-10349.pdf T.R. Witcher, “How the interstate highway system connected—and in some cases segregated—America,” published by American Society of Civil Engineers (2021), accessed at: https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/civil-engineering-magazine/article/2021/07/how-the-interstate-highway-system-connected--and-in-some-cases-segregated--america Congress for the New Urbanism, “Overtown Expressway,” accessed at: https://www.cnu.org/what-we-do/build-great-places/overtown-expresswayAdam Paul Susaneck, “Segregation by Design—Miami: Overtown,” published by TU Delft Centre for the Just City (2024), accessed at: https://www.segregationbydesign.com/miami/overtown-overview New York City Housing Authority, Essence Development, Related Companies, and Housing Opportunities Unlimited, “Fulton Elliott-Chelsea Relocation Plan” (2025), accessed at: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/nycha/downloads/pdf/fec-relocation-english.pdf Damon WIlliams, Daniel Kisslinger, and People for Community Recovery, Help this Garden Grow, published by Respair Media, accessed at: https://www.respairmedia.com/help-this-garden-grow  #publichousing #housingjustice #environmentaljustice #intersectionality #livedexperience #climatechange

In episode 25, seven public housing resident narrators recount stories about sharing in community and forced changes to their family structures, shaped by undercurrents of federal policies enacted during the 1950s–1980s that strictly governed what resources were available to whom. These stories touch on how the United States’ aggressive involvement in global affairs affect its residents at home and reveal deeper insights about how systemic changes affect each individual. We encourage you to share this episode with a friend and discuss how sharing and governmental policies have impacted your communities. Episode transcript here. To learn more about the history and policies discussed in this episode, check out our full sources and additional readings list:  Nicholas Lemann, “Four Generations in the Projects,” The New York Times (January 13, 1991, Section 6, page 17), accessed at: https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/13/magazine/four-generations-in-the-projects.html  Natalie Y. Moore, with research by Beauty Turner, “The Good Ol Days,” The Chicago Reporter (September 26, 2007), accessed at: https://www.chicagoreporter.com/good-ol-days/.  Alison Lefkovitz, “Men in the House: Race, Welfare, and the Regulation of Men’s Sexuality in the United States, 1961–1972,” Journal of the History of Sexuality 20, no. 3 (2011): 594–614, accessed at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41305886. Rahim Kurwa, National Low Income Housing Coalition, “Study Examines ‘Man in the House’ Rules in the Voucher Program, Housing Policy Debate (August 24, 2020) accessed at: https://nlihc.org/resource/study-examines-man-house-rules-voucher-program  Nestle, Marion. “The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): History, Politics, and Public Health Implications.” American Journal of Public Health 109, no. 12 (2019): 1631-1635, accessed at: https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305361  Hortense J. Spillers, “Mama’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe: an american grammar book”  (1987), Diacritics 17, no. 2 (Summer 1987): pp. 64-81, accessed at: https://www.mcgill.ca/english/files/english/spillers_mamas_baby.pdf or https://doi.org/10.2307/464747 . Gregory Acs, Kenneth Braswell, Elaine Sorensen, and Margery Austin Turner, “The Moynihan Report Revisited, published by Urban Institute, Open Society Foundations, and Fathers Incorporated (June 2013), accessed at: https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/23696/412839-The-Moynihan-Report-Revisited.PDF  Daniel Geary, “The Moynihan Report: An Annotated Edition,” The Atlantic (September 2015), accessed at: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/the-moynihan-report-an-annotated-edition/404632/ Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action,” Office of Policy Planning and Research, United States Department of Labor (March 1965), accessed at: https://web.stanford.edu/~mrosenfe/Moynihan%27s%20The%20Negro%20Family.pdf.

Who are the heroes of your neighborhood? In episode 24 of Out of the Archives, “Beauty is Remembered: A Mother’s Fight for Public Housing,” we honor the legacy of Ms. Beauty Turner, a mother, journalist, historian, and community activist who lived in Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes for over a decade. Listen to Larry Turner, the son of Ms. Beauty, and other former Robert Taylor residents discuss the community’s complex and rich history, and share why neighborhood heroes like Beauty are critical to public housing communities. Click here to read the transcript. Content Notes: This episode discusses themes of death/dying, drug use, state-sanctioned displacement, and houselessness. Sources and additional reading: Sundhir Venkatesh, Dislocation (2005): https://vimeo.com/505211639  Flavian Prince and Daniel Rudin, Interrupt the Pipeline (2009): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOJ8om06PU4  Nuri Medina II, Englewood Enterprise Gallery Dec. 6, 2017 Show, Chicago Access Network Television (2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0ksh7OHUjY  Beauty Turner, “GHETTO Bus Tour” (2007, Associated Press Archive): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKoTEH3ya2Y  Mick Dumke, “Chicago Claims Its 22-Year ‘Transformation’ Plan Revitalized 25,000 Homes. The Math Doesn't Add Up” (2002, ProPublica); Accessed: https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-housing-authority-hud-transformation-plan  When the Market Isn’t an Option Zine Vol. II & III: “Public Housing Disinvestment” and “Public Housing Deterioration” (2021–2022, National Public Housing Museum): https://nphm.org/listen/activating-the-archive/when-the-market-isnt-an-option-zine-series Beauty Turner’s Blog: https://beautysghettobustours.blogspot.com/  Samantha Chatman and Maggie Green, “Chicago affordable housing wait can take years as city, CHA face severe shortage,” (May 2023, ABC 7 Chicago), accessed: https://abc7chicago.com/affordable-housing-chicago-cha-section-8-portal/13232375/  D. B. Hunt (2001). “What went wrong with public housing in chicago? A history of the Robert Taylor Homes”. Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, 94(1), 96. Retrieved from: https://flagship.luc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/what-went-wrong-with-public-housing-chicago/docview/232489901/se-2  Kenya Barbara,”The Plan for Transformation: How a plan with lofty goals has underperformed and forever changed public housing in Chicago,” Public Interest Law Reporter vol. 24 (2018). Accessed at: https://lawecommons.luc.edu/pilr/vol24/iss1/13.   Chicago Housing Authority, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Fiscal Year 2023, accessed at: https://www.thecha.org/sites/default/files/2024-11/2023AnnualComprehensiveFinancialReport_12.23_BudgetandFinance.pdf  Dan Baum, “Legalize It All: How to win the war on drugs,” Harper’s Magazine (April 2016), accessed at: https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all “City of Chicago 2024 Point-in-Time Count and Survey Report of People Experiencing Homelessness,” prepared by the Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood & Community Improvement, University of Illinois Chicago, oversight by the Department of Family and Support Services, accessed at: https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/fss/supp_info/Homeless/2024-Homeless-Point-In-Time-Count-Report/2024_PIT_Report_FINAL.pdf

Narrators Janetta Pegues and Allen Schwartz, in conversation with oral historian Liú Chen, share stories of living in the Jane Addams Homes, intimately known as “The Village”, during the 1940s–1980s. Janetta and Allen share insights about the neighborhood’s different periods of redevelopment and change, including the construction and development of University of Illinois Chicago in the 1960s and the ongoing gentrification of Little Italy.  Read the transcript here. For more information about the historical and contemporary issues discussed in the episode, see our sources below and additional learning materials below:  Sources for sound design Raymond “Shaq” McDonald and Deral Willis challenging Mayor Richard M. Daley, excerpted from 70 Acres in Chicago documentary by Ronit Bezalel (2014). Accessed Sept. 5, 2024,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwW-Gw9CxyI. Florence Scala, excerpted from “Florence Scala for the People,” a video made by Italian Heritage Chicago (2011). Accessed Sept. 5, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8FMZOD3r3E. Chicago Indigenous Communities List of Illinois American Indian Organizations, Native American Chamber of Commerce of Illinois: www.nacc-il.org/illinois-american-indian-organizations  An Exploration of Native American History in Chicago with Geoffrey Baer, WTTW (2021): interactive.wttw.com/playlist/2021/11/29/native-american-history-geoffrey-baer  Center for Native Futures: www.centerfornativefutures.org/  Chicago American Indian Oral History Project Records, The Newberry Library: i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CARLI_NBY/i5mcb2/alma991762098805867  John N. Low, “Chicago is on the Lands of the Potawatomi: Why Land Acknowledgments for Chicago should acknowledge this historical fact,” https://johnnlow.com/2023/02/05/updates-at-long-last-chicago-is-on-the-lands-of-the-potawatomi-why-land-acknowledgments-for-chicago-should-acknowledge-this-historical-fact/  Plan for Transformation and Roosevelt Square Redevelopment Finalization of Lease for the Chicago Fire Football Club Training Facility, Chicago Housing Authority (2023): www.thecha.org/lease-chicago-fire-football-club-training-facility  “This Land Was Promised for Housing. Instead It’s Going to a Pro Soccer Team Owned by a Billionaire.” ProPublica & WTTW, Mick Dumke & Nick Blumberg (2022): www.propublica.org/article/chicago-housing-abla-fire-soccer-cha  “Chicago Claims Its 22-Year ‘Transformation’ Plan Revitalized 25,000 Homes. The Math Doesn't Add Up.” ProPublica, Mick Dumke (2022): www.propublica.org/article/chicago-housing-authority-hud-transformation-plan Roosevelt Square Development Articles, DNAInfo News Aggregator: www.dnainfo.com/chicago/places/roosevelt-square/  University of Illinois Chicago demolition, displacement, and development: “Renewal for Whom? The Origins of the University of Illinois Chicago Circle Campus,” Chicago History Museum, Katherine Quiroa (2023): www.chicagohistory.org/origins-of-university-of-illinois-chicago/  The Boss & the Bulldozer documentary, WTTW, Stacy Robinson (2023): interactive.wttw.com/chicago-stories/boss-and-the-bulldozer/video  “Daley vs. Little Italy” Interactive Article, WBEZ, Monica Eng (2016): interactive.wbez.org/curiouscity/littleitaly/ “Displaced: When the Eisenhower Expressway Moved in, Who Was Forced Out?” Interactive Article, WBEZ, Robert Loerzel: interactive.wbez.org/curiouscity/eisenhower/  Florence Scala Collection, University of Illinois Chicago Special Collections and University Archives: archivesspace.uic.edu/repositories/2/resources/1078 Flashback: Florence Scala took on City Hall and Fought for Little Italy and a ‘gutsy’ Chicago, Chicago Tribune, Ron Grossman (updated 2022): www.chicagotribune.com/2022/03/10/flashback-florence-scala-took-on-city-hall-and-fought-for-little-italy-and-a-gutsy-chicago/  Florence Scala: A Disowned Community Leader, Italian Americana, Sandro Corso (2019): www.jstor.org/stable/45210818

Join us as we revisit this episode, "Play Ball: Spots and Recreation in Public Housing," featuring stories spanning from 1943 to 1993. Experience the thrill of late-night basketball games, memories from an Olympic-level boxer, and more about the power of sports. Storytellers for this episode include Lee Roy Murphy, Olympic boxer of the Robert Taylor Homes; James Purgatorio of the Jane Addams Homes; Gil Walker, the former director of programs of the Chicago Housing Authority; Tanisha Wright, former WNBA player of Mon View Heights; Tommy Woods of the Lathrop Homes; and Byron Dickens of the Jane Addams Homes. Read the transcript.

"Bringing the Outdoors In: Community and Recreation in Public Housing" originally aired on April 30, 2020, shortly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Needless to say, this period required the world to drastically reimagine how we interact while also keeping our neighbors and broader communities safe. Thinking back to those first few weeks of the pandemic, one of the most immediate and disarming changes was not being able to commune with our friends, family, classmates, and colleagues.  We shared this episode with that mentality in mind, hoping to bring listeners closer to what was familiar to them. Now, over three years later, we are still living with the ever-rippling effects of the pandemic. But through those ripples we’ve also shown how adaptable we can be, finding creative ways to convene, play, and find joy with our communities. Episode transcript here. Narrators include Betty Howard, Tommy Woods, Phil Ayala, Janetta Pegues, and Sunny Fischer, and stories were recorded by Hannah Barg, Shakira Johnson, Alexis Judeh, and Francesco De Salvatore.

When considering what “love” is, many varieties come to mind. Romantic love and platonic love dominate our TV shows, movies, and music, but these are only two pieces of the picture. What about love of a place, love of a people, or love of a purpose and principles? This episode, “The Act of Loving,” shares stories of all sorts of love in public housing, expanding our definition of what love means. The oral history narrators for this episode include, JL Gross, who has lived in Chicago's Lathrop Homes from 1987 to the present day, Reverend Marshall Hatch, who lived in Chicago's Jane Addams Homes from 1960 to 1974, Milton Reed who lived in Chicago's Robert Taylor Homes from 1961 to 2002, Former Representative Bobby Rush who lived in Chicago's Hillard Homes from 1963 until the mid 1960s, Daphany Rose Sanchez, who has lived in New York City's Cooper Park Houses from 1984 to the present day, Larry Turner, who lived in Chicago's Robert Taylor Homes, Stateway Gardens, and Cabrini-Green in 1977 and then 1980 to 2000 and Atlanta Dream Head Coach, Tanisha Wright, who lived in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania's Mon View Heights from 1983 to 1998. Read the transcript.

In this episode, 'There's So Much Magic in a Place,' we uplift a range of experiences of public housing residents from across the country, featuring narrators from New York City,  Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Chicago. These narrators share stories of how their relationships to home and place have shaped, and have been shaped by, their identities as individuals and communities.Read the transcript here.Sources: https://trace.tennessee.edu/rgsj/vol10/iss1/3https://illinois.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/east-lake-meadows-stereotyping/east-lake-meadows-a-public-housing-story-video/https://books.google.com/books?id=QI17AwAAQBAJ&q=%22long+hot+summer%22+1967&pg=PA1#v=snippet&q=%22long%20hot%20summer%22%201967&f=false