Feature Spotlight: Barbara Simon

Each day this week we will be spotlighting one of the first six "Lawndale: A Living History" featured elders and mentors on the blog. Today's spotlight: Barbara Simon, whose photo can be found on the garden side of the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot, on the right. Please visit her profile page on the Living History virtual exhibit for much more on Ms. Simon!

Barbara Simon is a Chicago native and (nearly) lifelong resident of North Lawndale. Her passions include her garden at home, where her photo portrait was taken, her family, as well as her faith -- "I walk by faith, not by sight" is her motto. Barbara the mother of Jay Simon, making this a very personal inclusion in Lawndale: A Living History. As Jay powerfully said at the opening ceremony, it was important to him to "give her her flowers while she's here," noting that his father (Barbara's husband) passed away around ten years ago. 

Additional photos of Ms. Simon, her biography, and her audio interview with StoryCorps are all available on her page on the Lawndale: A Living History virtual exhibit.

Thanks so much to Ms. Simon for sharing her history (and of course, for Jay)!