The first Columbus Day celebration took place in 1792, when New York’s Columbian Order—better known as Tammany Hall—held an event to commemorate the historic landing’s 300th anniversary. Taking pride in Columbus’ birthplace and faith, Italian and Catholic communities in various parts of the country began organizing annual religious ceremonies and parades in his honor.
In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation honoring the 400th anniversary of the initial landing. In 1905, Colorado was the first state to make it an official holiday. In 1937, Congress designated October 12 as the holiday and in 1971 declared that the holiday be celebrated the second Monday in October. Illinois created the Columbus Day holiday in 1963.
Many people continue to honor the day in recognition not only of Christopher Columbus’ landing on the shores of the New World, laying the groundwork for the formation of the United States of America, but also as a celebration of Italian-American cultural heritage.
According to the U.S. Census, there are more than 18 million people of Italian ancestry in the United States, making them the fourth-largest ancestry group.
Four Years Later: The Status of Statues in Illinois
As Columbus Day is recognized, the historical monuments controversy continues in Illinois. Earlier this year, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's office said it was looking into removing a statue of George Washington located on the fifth floor of City Hall. Removal is under consideration because our Nation’s first president was a slaveholder. Johnson has not made a definitive decision yet.
It is not the first time objections to statues of historical figures have been addressed by a Chicago mayor. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, responding to the civil unrest unfolding in 2020, ordered the removal of three Christopher Columbus statues following attempts by protestors to tear down the Columbus statue in Grant Park. At the time, she said the de-installation was temporary.
Subsequently in 2021, Lightfoot created the Chicago Monuments Project to review hundreds of public monuments in Chicago as part of a "a racial healing and historical reckoning project." The Project’s Advisory Committee identified 41 public monuments needing attention. Among the monuments identified are statues of Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, George Washington, and Ulysses S. Grant.
The group also issued a report recommending dozens of other sculptures and plaques in Chicago be modified or taken down altogether. They proposed the following monuments be de-installed:
- Jacques Marquette-Louis Jolliet Memorial
- Fort Dearborn Massacre
- Kinzie Mansion Plaque
- Jean Baptiste Beaubien Plaque
- DuSable Bridge reliefs: “The Defense,” “The Pioneers,” “Discoverers” and “Regeneration”
- Tablets dedicated to Cavelier De La Salle and Jolliet and Marquette
- General Philip Henry Sheridan
- Marquette Memorial
- Bust of Melville Fuller
- Italo Balbo Monument
The Columbus statues remain in storage in a Chicago Park District garage, with the Grant Park statue still covered in spray paint from protestors. Two of the statues were paid for and maintained by Chicago’s Italian American community, not the City or Park District. The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans has pursued legal options, and the group is demanding that the city reinstall the Columbus statues at Grant Park and Arrigo Park.
Chicago wasn’t the only Illinois entity to deinstall statues.
In August of 2020, the board of the Illinois Office of the Architect of the Capitol voted unanimously to permanently remove statues of Steven Douglas and Pierre Menard from the Illinois State Capitol grounds in Springfield. Both Douglas and Menard had ties to slavery, with Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan making the initial push for removal. Madigan also ordered a portrait of Douglas in the House Chamber to be covered before it was replaced with a portrait of former President and Illinois legislator Barack Obama. The statues were placed in storage.
Then in 2021, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch established the House Statue and Monument Review Task Force “to ensure Illinois public art is historically accurate and reflects the diversity of the state.” The Task Force met a few times but did not issue a report or recommend any removals.
The Peoria Park District Board of Trustees voted 4-2 to take down the Christopher Columbus statue in Laura Bradley Park and move it to storage. A new art piece is in the works to replace the Columbus monument, and the Park District has paid $100,000 to artist Preston Jackson to create a monument that will ‘pay homage’ to Peoria’s Native American population.
Prior to the agreement with Jackson, the Park Board and members of the local neighborhood had conversations about erecting a new statue in the old Columbus spot. The West Bluff Council and Uplands Neighborhood Association advocated for placing a statue of Hebe, a minor Greek goddess of youth, in Bradley Park. However, that request was unanimously denied. Advocates cited that a statue of Hebe is historically significant to the park, as a similar statue existed in the park until the late 1950s. It was reportedly removed for repairs after it was hit by a car and never put back. Neighborhood advocates have questioned why such strong, organized public feedback was ignored in favor of the proposal for a Native American-themed monument.
In June of 2021, Edwardsville workers took the statue of Ninian Edwards off its pedestal and moved it to a simple concrete pad. Officials plan to eventually install a plaque to explain Edwards’ story not only as the city’s namesake and a key figure in early Illinois politics, but also as a slave owner who led attacks on Native Americans.
Local governments in Illinois have a checkered past regarding respectful storage and preservation of public monuments after the display ends. In the past, historical artifacts have been illegally sold by those with access to them in storage and lost to history. Local governments are urged to keep strict inventory control to preserve history and protect taxpayer investments, even when statues or monuments have been paid for with private dollars.