What's up, Chicago? I'm Aaron Allen, and this is Curious City.

We're in Edgewater. We're on Magnolia, just north of Catapalpa.

This is Curious City listener, Bob Goldman.

We're standing across the street from a school letting out, looking at a stamp etched into the ground.

It's this square that's been pressed into the sidewalk

and it says WPA 1938 inside the square. WPA. That stands for the Works Progress Administration,

which was a premier work relief program during the Great Depression. We're standing on top of history as we speak.

I most of the time don't pay attention, except when it's really cold and it's wintertime

and you're looking down because the wind is cutting through your skin and you look down and you see this WPA square.

You wonder what the heck that is?

We looked into these stamps, and it gave us a glimpse of the people behind the WPA in Chicago.

The workers of the Works Progress Administration.

Who were they?

And why were they doing so much infrastructure work, like building sidewalks?

Today, we're going to get into all of that.

That's coming up after the break.

This WBEZ podcast is supported by the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago.

The master's program in social work, social policy, and social administration prepares professionals to address today's most pressing challenges and offers flexible options with part-time and evening classes to support busy adults balancing complex

schedules. Inspire change, shape the future at crown school.u-chicago.edu.edu slash social work.

This WBEZ podcast is supported by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Connection is the greatest strength in the fight against suicide.

Together, we can encourage those who are struggling to seek help and to know they're not alone.

For free resources or to learn how you can get involved in their mission, visitafsp.org. Young and Olmsted, 1904, Hofer and co, Heifer and Co. Chicago, 1917. You're hearing me read off some of the sidewalk stamps

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