The Columbus Project
How we got here
In 1892, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison organized the first national Columbus Day parade in New York City to ease a diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and Italy, which surfaced a year prior when the largest lynch mob ever to assemble on American soil murdered 11 innocent Italian immigrants in the streets of New Orleans.
Given the massive success of President Harrison’s NYC parade (attended by more than one million people), Italian Americans built Columbus statues across the U.S. through the 1900s to help fuel their assimilation. Today, the holiday honors Italian American pride and heritage.
In 2023 and 2024, COPOMIAO President Basil M. Russo and fellow Italian American leaders worked directly with White House officials to help shape Columbus Day proclamations that more fully explored the history behind the holiday.
Now, COPOMIAO extends its appreciation to President Donald Trump for issuing an exemplary 2025 Columbus Day Proclamation.
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Charting a new course
Let’s correct the narrative surrounding Columbus’s legacy, rebuild statues of the navigator and develop inter-cultural public spaces that deepen and widen a complex and nuanced discussion. (This isn’t wishful thinking; we’re crafting and fighting for these very solutions as we speak in Chicago, Massachusetts, New Haven, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.)
The 30-foot bronze and granite Christopher Columbus statue, located in Pittsburgh’s historic Schenley Park.
From the top
This isn’t about party or politics, in fact, it’s the one thing leaders on both sides of the aisle agree on:
Donald Trump, the 45th & 47th President of the United States.
“This Columbus Day, more than 500 years since Columbus arrived in the New World, we follow his example, we echo his resolve, and we offer our gratitude for his life of valor and grit.” –Donald Trump
Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States.
“Taking down, toppling the Christopher Columbus statue or the George Washington statue, I think that is something that the government has an opportunity and a responsibility to protect from happening.” – Joe Biden
Academia takes on tough questions
Should we continue to celebrate Columbus Day?
Did Christopher Columbus commit genocide against the Indigenous Peoples of America?
Was Christopher Columbus nothing but a greedy opportunist?
Should Columbus Day be replaced and Columbus statues taken down?
Did Christopher Columbus introduce the slave trade to the Americas?
Is Columbus Day a holiday that celebrates white privilege?
“[Columbus’s voyage] was the most significant event to happen to our species.”
–Neil deGrasse Tyson
Let’s talk
Check our sources above, read the academic research and Email Us to join the cause, offer feedback, or, if you’re with the media, to schedule an interview.
The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO), based in NYC, is a coalition that represents 74 prominent cultural, educational, fraternal and anti-defamation groups, which seek to promote our storied culture for today’s generations and tomorrow’s.
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