There is a lot of controversy about whether or not our nation should be celebrating Columbus Day. Obviously, we know that Cristoforo Colombo did not discover America in 1492 because there were already people living on the land. The story of the holiday, though, is much more complex and doesn't have as much to do about the Italian explorer who sailed under the Spanish flag. It has much more to do with the history of Italian immigrants in the United States. From NY Public Library -- from 1892. Between around 1880 and 1924, more than 4 million Italians, mainly from Southern Italy and Sicily, (my ancestors included) arrived on American shores looking for opportunities unavailable to them in their home country -- like all immigrants coming to America. Photo by Lewis Hine Like other immigrants they were not met with open arms. Read the White House Proclamation on Columbus Day from 2022. "Things have not always been easy; prejudice and violence often stalled the ...
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