I’ve been volunteering at the National Public Housing Museum, helping the team to assess what information management systems might work for their collections. While researching the options, I’ve also been working on a plan to help them to develop a collections management policy and some basic first steps before cataloging begins.
I’m also assisting the curator on a temporary basis, helping to select images and objects for an upcoming exhibit at the future museum site. As a part of this process, I had my first tour of the building, the former Jane Addams Homes. I’d walked past the abandoned housing many times, always wondering who had lived there, what it had been like, and what would happen to the last remaining structure. Some of those questions will be answered, in part, in the exhibit, and will be answered more fully once the museum opens. I’m thrilled to be working on this project, both because of the access it will give me to the museum’s collections and this historic site, and because of the potential for this exhibit to raise awareness about the museum. It will open as part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial in October 2015.
Interior of one of the Jane Addams Homes units.
Exterior of the site.