Back in the good old days of the Great Depression — when St. Louisans felt safe sleeping in the parks during hot weather and hitch-hiking was a cheap way to travel — the country had a wonderful program called the Works Progress Administration.

The WPA hired people to build things. The Jewel Box in Forest Park was built by the WPA. Kiel Auditorium was built by the WPA. The channeling of the Des Peres River was done by the WPA.

Putting people who needed jobs to work for the public good was not a novel idea.

The lake in Forest Park across from the Spanish Pavilion, the lake with the Boathouse, is called Post-Dispatch Lake. It was built during the Panic of 1893 when banks were closing, armies of unemployed workers were marching toward Washington, D.C., and a railroad union strike was threat

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