Christopher Columbus
WHOSE COLUMBUS? WHOSE COLUMBUS DAY? Part 1: It begins with a statue in Philadelphia in 1876
Why is Columbus Day the most controversial of American holidays?
People disagree—often violently—about its past and present meaning.
What are the strange and frequently disturbing facts of the matter, long ignored by historians, journalists and politicians?
Here they are! Make of them what you will!
***
From South Philly (then and now) to the American Civil War to the 1876 Centennial Exposition.
We meet Christopher Columbus (in several incarnations), sculptor Emanuele Caroni and Nunzio Finelli (ideator of Philadelphia’s Columbus Statue, long in Fairmount Park, now in Marconi Plaza).
WHOSE COLUMBUS? WHOSE COLUMBUS DAY? Part 2: The New Orleans Massacre (1891) and Italian-American Identity
Why is Columbus Day the most controversial of American holidays?
People disagree—often violently—about its past and present meaning.
What are the strange and frequently disturbing facts of the matter, long ignored by historians, journalists and politicians?
Here they are! Make of them what you will!
***
A deadly anti-Italian riot in New Orleans in 1891 was the alleged catalyst for the Columbus Day holiday (more about that later).
We meet Italian Ambassador Francesco Fava and Italian Consul Pasquale Corte, plus a host of corrupt New Orleans politicians and rumor-mongering journalists across America and around the world.
WHOSE COLUMBUS? WHOSE COLUMBUS DAY? Part 3: Italian Columbus Day vs. American Columbus Day
Why is Columbus Day the most controversial of American holidays?
People disagree—often violently—about its past and present meaning.
What are the strange and frequently disturbing facts of the matter, long ignored by historians, journalists and politicians?
Here they are! Make of them what you will!
***
“Everyone” knows that Columbus Day began in 1892 (1492 plus 400) when President Benjamin Harrison declared that national holiday—in reparation for the recent lynching of 11 Italians in New Orleans.
“Everyone” is wrong, however. The story is far more complicated with two plausible “origin myths” (neither openly connected to the New Orleans tragedy).
1892 gave rise to a short-lived American Nativist Columbus Day, linked to the Schoolhouse Flag movement and the Pledge of Allegiance.
1892 also formalized an older and more durable Italian and Catholic Columbus Day—with the dedication of the Columbus Monument in New York City.
WHOSE COLUMBUS? WHOSE COLUMBUS DAY? Part 4: Christopher Columbus Against the World
Why is Columbus Day the most controversial of American holidays?
People disagree—often violently—about its past and present meaning.
What are the strange and frequently disturbing facts of the matter, long ignored by historians, journalists and politicians?
Here they are! Make of them what you will!
***
Christopher Columbus, Frank Rizzo, George Floyd, Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani…
Black Lives Matter, Indigenous Peoples Day, Italian Liberation and the January 6, 2021 Assault on the Capitol…
Philadelphia's "notorious" Columbus Statue, "notorious" Rizzo Statue and "notorious" Rizzo Mural...
What do these all have in common?
“Everything and Nothing” is the easy answer.
COLUMBUS, MARCONI AND BALBO: Italian Heroes Collide with American Reality
In 1930s America, Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of the radiotelegraph and Italo Balbo, the aeronautical "Second Columbus" led a brilliantly orchestrated public relations campaign on behalf of Benito Mussolini's regime.
Americans—especially Italian-Americans—enthusiastically embraced the emblems of Fascist ideology until the Second World War intervened.