The Ridge Historical Society
Louise Barwick – Part 7
By Carol Flynn
The Ridge Historical Society (RHS) is open again, following weather-related closures.
The current exhibit, “Louise Barwick’s Lost Ridge,” may be viewed on Sundays and Tuesdays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. or by appointment. RHS is located at 10621 S. Seeley Avenue in Chicago. The exhibit is free. RHS may be contacted at 773/881-1675 or ridgehistory@hotmail.com.
Louise Barwick (1871 – 1957) was a long-time resident and art teacher in the Ridge community. Her watercolor paintings of local scenes from around 1900, which form the basis of the current exhibit, offer a visual history of the environment of that time.
By 1904, Louise was employed as a teacher in the Calumet district of the Cook County school system, which included Morgan Park. Morgan Park was listed as one of the few school districts that had both drawing and music specialty programs.
For the next several decades, Louise was a drawing teacher at various schools on the south side of Chicago, including the West Pullman School as well as the Morgan Park schools. She lived with her mother at several addresses, and in 1920, Mrs. Barwick, Louise, and younger sister Edith Beardsley and niece Louise Beardsley were all living at 2236 W. 113th St., in Morgan Park. Louise was listed as a grammar school teacher, and her sister as a music teacher.
In 1940, Louise, now a retired art teacher from Clissold School, made an authentic reproduction of a map of the Ridge from Blue Island to 87th Street that belonged to her father and dated back to 1880. The reproduction was framed and presented to the Morgan Park Woman’s Club and is now in the RHS collection. At the time she and her sister lived at 11252 S. Bell Ave.
Louise Barwick died in 1957 and was laid to rest in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Unfortunately, RHS does not have a good photo of Louise Barwick.
The next post will share some of Louise’s water color paintings of local scenes.