![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The removal of monuments became a theme of the movement early on and by June 9, protesters in Richmond, Virginia had torn down their Columbus statue, set it on fire, and tossed it in a lake while protesters in Boston had severed the head of theirs. In the weeks following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, protests spread to Saint Paul, then to the rest of the nation. Minnesota newspapers ran articles about the controversy surrounding the statue and a 2017 petition sought to replace the statue with one of Prince and another selected by the state's Native American community. Native American activists and their allies argued that the statue legitimizes the myth that Columbus discovered America and creates an unwelcome environment on the Capitol grounds, citing his role in genocide, colonialism, and dispossession. Indigenous Peoples Day became an official city holiday of Saint Paul in 2015 and a state holiday in 2016. The push to remove Confederate monuments in the wake of the 2015 Charleston church shooting and the 2017 Unite the Right rally sparked discussions over the future of the Columbus statue. Just before the anniversary in 1992, vandals doused the statue with red paint, necessitating an emergency cleaning. The statue was pressure washed and treated to restore a "Roman bronze" patination. In anticipation of the quincentennial of Columbus sailing to the Bahamas, the Italian-American Society made a donation for the preservation of the statue in 1991. A second plaque, added in 1992, claims that Columbus started "the merging of the cultures of the old and new worlds Thereby changing forever the course and history of mankind." An inscription on the memorial's plaque reads "To Christopher Columbus, Discoverer of America." A 2015 bill introduced by John Persell sought to change the plaque to say that Columbus "landed in America.". Minnesota proclaimed Columbus Day an official state holiday that same year. Attendees included former Senator Frank B. Olson and Minnesota Historical Society president Guy Stanton Ford. The statue was unveiled before a crowd of 24,000 on October 12, 1931. ![]() A site for the memorial was set aside in Saint Paul on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol, across from what was then the Minnesota Historical Society Building but is now the Minnesota Judicial Center. The 10-foot bronze statue was created by sculptor Charles "Carlo" Brioschi, with assistance from Leo Lentelli. The statue was originally conceived as a way to counter discrimination against Italian Americans, who were considered outsiders by the earlier, predominantly Northern European settlers. The Christopher Columbus Memorial Association was then established and chapters in Minneapolis–Saint Paul and the Iron Range raised funds from Italian-Americans for a statue. Later that year, the idea was endorsed at a meeting of the Minnesota Federation of Italian-American Clubs in Hibbing. In June 2020 American Indian Movement activists toppled the statue as part of the series of protests following the murder of George Floyd.Ī Minnesota memorial for Christopher Columbus was first proposed at a 1927 meeting of the Italian Progressive Club of Duluth. The 10-foot statue was created by Italian American Carlo Brioschi. ![]()
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