Public Housing Museum To Hold Discussion

Museum Hopes To Open In 2012

CHICAGO (CBS) - Organizers of Chicago's National Public Housing Museum are exhibiting the stories of four men who grew up in one of the city's public housing developments.

The museum organization is holding an event titled "The Role of Men in Public Housing," in which four men who lived in the Ida B. Wells project from 1941 to 1958 will talk about their experiences there and beyond.

The men – Bert Ellis, Leon Hamilton, Cordell Reed, and Ananias Samuel – went on to become "successful businessmen and entrepreneurs in their respected realms," the museum said. The men's deep family roots and community experiences led to their success, the museum said.

The discussion will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.

The Public Housing Museum has been in the works for several years and is expected to open in 2012. It will be housed in the last remaining building of the Jane Addams Homes development, at 1322-24 W. Taylor St. on the city's Near West Side.

The low-rise building opened in 1938, and was the first federal government housing project in the city. The building has been shuttered since 2002.

Organizers say the idea behind the museum is to challenge stereotypes of public housing.

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