Photo: Schoolchildren on parade during the Columbus celebrations in New York City, December 10, 1892. (from William J. Connell article)
"When thinking about the Columbus Day holiday it helps to remember the good intentions of the people who put together the first parade in New York. Columbus Day was first proclaimed a national holiday by President Benjamin Harrison in 1892, 400 years after Columbus’s first voyage. The idea, lost on present-day critics of the holiday, was that this would be a national holiday that would be special for recognizing both Native Americans, who were here before Columbus, and the many immigrants—including Italians—who were just then coming to this country in astounding numbers. It was to be a national holiday that was not about the Founding Fathers or the Civil War, but about the rest of American history. Like the Columbian Exposition dedicated in Chicago that year and opened in 1893, it was to be about our land and all its people. Harrison especially designated the schools as centers of the Columbus celebration because universal public schooling, which had only recently taken hold, was seen as essential to a democracy that was seriously aiming to include everyone and not just preserve a governing elite.
The holiday marks the event, not the person."
Read more of "What Columbus Day Really Means" by By William J. Connell, here: https://bit.ly/39WxMja
"Anyone who loves science, or who at least pays attention to American popular culture, knows the name, Neil deGrasse Tyson. Since the late-1990s, via his lectures, books, and TV shows, Dr. Tyson has surpassed his mentor, Carl Sagan, as our nation’s most well-known astrophysicist."
“Christopher Columbus’s voyage to America was the most significant event in human history.” - Dr. Tyson
Read more of "DR. TYSON VS. THE COLUMBUS HATERS" from the Italic Institute of America, here: https://bit.ly/3jU7cfl
The Italic Institute of America: "Guardian of the Italian Heritage" (italic.org)
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