Lydia Williams

Early Life:
Born in Atlanta Illinois on July 8th 1908, Lydia Williams was the daughter of Charles and Ruth Williams. Charles was a doctor and was not around very much. Ruth tried to keep control of all her children but with six of them all 2 years apart it was sometimes hard to do. Lydia was an energetic kid and had quite an attitude. She was sweet but if you made her mad she would yell and hit you. She got in trouble many times for violence. But she always loved her brothers and sisters and hardly ever fought with them. She was never very smart and got pretty bad grades. The only thing that could calm her down and that she absolutely loved was dance, it as her passion. Even if she was not the greatest at it. She worked hard though and finally got a job offer in Chicago. Lydia left her home town in 1925 and began her career as a dancer. She signed with the Chicago Opera Ballet in Chicago, Illinois. She worked there only for a few weeks before they kicked her out because of her attitude and lack of talent. She then started working at a club as a flapper dancer. The club was named “The Green Mill.” Williams worked there with one other girl, Cassidy Blake. They instantly became best friends. Williams and Blake did everything together, shop, eat, work, and they even shared an apartment.
Life at the club:
Life as a flapper was, “the bee’s knees.” Going out to clubs and parties every night was what every girl of this generation dreamed of, and Lydia and Cassidy were living that life. Lydia became involved with one of Al Capone’s Gunmen, Jack McGurn. He was also known as, “Machine Gun.” Jack was the only thing Lydia didn’t tell her best friend Cassidy about because Jack didn’t want anyone to know about there relationship. She understood why though, he was just looking out for her safety because he was in a gang and didn’t want her to get hurt. Every night was a new story. The club was booming. Everyone loved going there to dance and listen to jazz.
1929:
Everything stayed great until 1929 on February 14th. Jack had been in Florida with Al Capone for a few weeks. He got back that day. Lydia and Cassidy were working at the bar when they heard police sirens. They ran outside to see what was going on. People were running by and they asked what was happening. They said there had been a shooting in a parking garage not too far from here. Lydia always said that she knew it had something to do with Capone and McGurn. Later that night she went to visit him at his hotel but he was not there. So she just went back home and tried again the next day, but yet again he was not there. She tried for 2 weeks until he was finally home with no explanation on where he’d been. But while they were sitting there talking about everything together, the police came and kicked down his door and took him away. Lydia made up a fake alibi for McGurn so he would not have to go to jail. It worked and they set him free after only 2 days in prison. Lydia and Jack had a good relationship. She knew he was the one but he didn’t want to get married because of his gang activity so she agreed.
1930s:
The roaring 20’s was no more. And the flapper life style wasn’t the same. She eventually quit her job at the Green Mill and started a dance studio. She had quite a few students and classes throughout the years. She taught all types of dancing, ballet, jazz, ballroom. She was happy she found something she loved to do. Al Capone’s wife even took a few of her classes. So did Coco Chanel, Dorothy Sebastian, Anita Page, and Louise Brooks. She became one of the biggest Dance studios in Chicago. One day she went and got the mail and there was a letter in there from The Chicago ballet school. It asked her to come be a teacher there. She simply laughed and thought if they hadn’t kicked her out when she was seventeen what her life would be like now. Since Capone went to prison, Jacks gang activity had gone down a lot and she thought that he might finally ask her to marry him now. She didn’t know it yet, but she was completely wrong.
Death:
In 1936 Lydia found out that her long time boyfriend had been cheating on her their whole relationship, with her best friend. And that the only man she had ever really loved died, she went insane. She went to the bar and found a guy to have a one night stand with. She took him back to her apartment; she could do that know since Cassidy had moved out. When the guy woke up in the middle of the night and had to go to the restroom he found Lydia in there, dead. She had committed suicide. She hung herself from the curtain rod and slit her wrists. There as Blood Every where. No one had thought she’d be this upset because no one knew about the relationship she had with Jack McGurn. She never had any kids or married.