plato is best known for his work on federal housing projects and reportedly became the first african-american to be awarded a contract to build a u.s. post office. he was awarded contracts, mostly in the 1930s, to build at least 38 u.s. post offices in towns such as coldwater, ohio; goshen, new york; fredonia, new york; eaton, new york; morgantown, west virginia; and decatur, alabama. officials hired plato to work on the post office in decatur without realizing he was black. to avoid a potentially unpleasant situation, he skipped the welcome party and immediately went to work on the project. other federal government projects included a government building in new philadelphia, ohio, and contracts to build federal armories in xenia and zanesville, ohio.