The WPA provided a great deal of federal funding to city governments during the Great Depression that was used on projects such as the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway, of which the bridge is a part. The construction effort was not without its difficulties, as racial tensions between an Italian foreman and Ethiopian laborers delayed the start of the project for several days due to an argument over the Second Italo-Abyssinian War that had recently erupted. The WPA program provided tens of thousands of jobs each year, providing workers an average of $63.98 a month (in 1936), well over the national average. Other WPA projects included the Cleveland Municipal Airport, as well as power infrastructure and sewage disposal modernization that is still largely in use today. | Source: Cleveland Memory Project, Cleveland State University Library Special CollectionsDownload Original File
Source
Cleveland Memory Project, Cleveland State University Library Special Collections
