Barbara Ann The Ultimate Dream Girl

Barbara Ann “The Ultimate Dream Girl”

HI! My name is Barbara Ann, and I am a Bronzeville Baby!”

“I am 8 years old and was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1930. My parents, seven siblings, aunts, uncles, and grandmother all live in the same apartment complex, Aldine Square. A neat block of Greystone buildings with a pond and bridge as our front yard.

Many musicians live here like Jelly Roll Morton. My daddy, known as Frank Sweet Williams, is also a musician and plays at downtown night clubs and on the north side of Chicago in exclusive white clubs. Sometimes he and his friends have jam sessions in our living room. Daddy works for Illinois Central Railroad during the day as security guard. To help make ends meet, mama sews beautiful clothes for well-to-do ladies. Lucky for me she can use the fabric remnants to make party and school dresses for me.

My family calls me the ‘dream girl’, because even though my home was crowded, I’d always find a private space to dream. . . under the dining room table, or outside on the bridge that’s over the pond in our front yard. I dream of what I want to be when I grow up. I think about being a model or work in a retail store downtown. But since I love family life, I may become a loving wife and mother.”