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.
Over the past two years, COPOMIAO President Basil M. Russo and his Italian American peers have worked directly with White House officials to develop Columbus Day proclamations that explore the history behind the holiday.
See the 2022 and 2023 Columbus Day Proclamations for further context.
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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 just wishful thinking; we’re crafting and fighting for these very solutions as we speak in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Syracuse, Chicago and New Jersey.)
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:
Joe Biden inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States.
Joe Biden inaugurated as 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
Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States.
“525 years ago, Christopher Columbus completed an ambitious and daring voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. The voyage was a remarkable and then-unparalleled feat that helped launch the age of exploration and discovery…” –Donald Trump
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 63 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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