Date of Award

1-1-2015

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences

First Advisor

Christina Kreps, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Dean J. Saitta

Third Advisor

Rebecca Powell

Keywords

Chicago, Collaboration, Conservative Vice Lords, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, National Public Housing Museum, Report to the public

Abstract

This thesis focuses on better museum practices, social justice museums, and the unforeseen challenges that museums encounter when collaborating and consulting with communities. More specifically, this project looks at the National Public Housing Museum (NPHM) and the exhibit Report to the Public: An Untold Story of the Conservative Vice Lords (CVL), which was co-created with the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. Both Chicago institutions worked with public housing residents and the former CVL, a 1960s gang, to give voice to two often unheard communities. Through an anthropological and museum studies perspective, this thesis summarizes the history of museum practice as well as the history of Chicago public housing and the CVL. By conducting interviews with staff at these museums and referencing published material and unpublished audio transcriptions of interviews, this thesis examines better museum practices and whether or not these museums were able to provide the community a platform to combat common stereotypes and challenge the way people think about both public housing residents and gang members. This project also offers recommendations for both museums in order to help them and other institutions improve the methods they use when working with communities.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Dionisia Ann Mathios

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

186 p.

Discipline

Museum studies, Cultural anthropology, African American studies

Download



Share

COinS