When the Cleveland Indians announced their new name would be the Cleveland Guardians, more than a few of us weren’t quite sure where the name came from.
And even if we did know that The Guardians of Traffic adorned Hope Memorial Bridge downtown, that’s where our knowledge ended.
If you found yourself giving unsatisfying and purposely vague answers to questions from far-flung friends and family members, check out the Then & Now blog from the Western Reserve Historical Society. Curator Pamela Dorazio Dean has a terrific entry about the origins of the Guardians and their talented Italian immigrant carvers, many of whom settled in Cleveland neighborhoods and Little Italy.
Here’s how she described the eight figures, four facing East, four West:
“Each Guardian holds a different mode of transportation in its hands, including a hay rack, a covered wagon, a stagecoach, a passenger automobile, and four types of motor trucks. The vehicles represent the progress made in transportation over time. Because of this, they are sometimes called the Guardians of Transportation. The correct name as given by the designers, however, is Guardians of Traffic.”
Learn more about the carvers and how the Guardians found a home in Cleveland. And the next time someone asks, “What’s the deal with the Cleveland Guardians?” You’ll have an answer thanks to WRHS.
Photo courtesy WRHS
