At 4:00 p.m. on the sunny afternoon of May 14, 1920, Chicago Plan Commission Chairman Charles Wacker and Board of Local Improvements President Michael Faherty stood beside Mayor William Hale "Big Bill" Thompson as he cut the ribbon to open the upper level of the new Michigan Avenue Bridge. The sporty Thompson doffed his cowboy hat, the crowd pressed up against ropes that were there to contain it, fireworks were shot into the sky, planes dropped booster literature, boats in the river sounded their whistles, and a band played "The Star-Spangled Banner." Workers on the still uncompleted lower level remained busily on the job during the ceremonies.

Photographer: J. Sherwin Murphy
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-29306)