Probably the story of escape in Chicago’s history is the story of how we’ve tried to escape our legacy of public housing.  

No matter where you stand on the city’s decision to tear down most of its high rise low-income housing, to watch them literally vanish from the landscape is to bear witness to an enormous event.

What won’t vanish are the lives of those who lived inside them. 

Mamie Bone lived in the Henry Horner Homes, in the shadow of the more recent United Center.
 
She was a longtime resident leader there, served on the Chicago Housing Authority's Board, and took part in a lawsuit against the CHA that gave residents more say in the redevelopment of the community.
 
Chicago Public Radio visited with Mamie Bone last July, as she was preparing to move out – to escape – the place she called home for fifty years.