Creating the 70th Anniversary Exhibit of Glendale Public Housing Townhomes was a rewarding experience for current and former Glendale residents that led this project. As a community-led project, we learned so much about the beautiful hidden history of Glendale and the amazing people that kept this public housing community together for decades.

 

Even though Minneapolis's political and public systems are rooted in institutional racism and are anti-public housing, we persevered, resisted, jumped over barriers, and created a great exhibit of our history and people, which has never been done before.

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Interviews of current and former residents came through word of mouth. Residents donated photos of their families and children to the exhibit. We collected stories that have never been heard or documented; there is more to collect.

 

In addition, residents and interns made regular visits to the Hennepin County Library Special Collections in downtown Minneapolis. Here we found boxes of newspaper articles, reports, letters, and photos about Glendale, undigitized and donated in the past by residents and neighbors. We sifted through and organized the research in a visual digestible way for the public.

 

Even though this took a lot of time and patience, we were grateful for the experience. We told our story in a beautiful exhibit with an opening and celebration in Glendale Townhomes on Saturday, May 13th, 2023.