President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he will be “reinstating” Columbus Day to its former status prior to the Biden administration. Former President Joe Biden established “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” to coincide with the holiday honoring Christopher Columbus.
The controversial holiday was first celebrated in New York City on October 12, 1866, by Italian-Americans as a day to honor their ethnic heritage. It wasn’t until the efforts of activist Angelo Noce in Colorado in the early 20th century that Columbus Day was first celebrated by a US state.
About 100 years from the first celebration of Columbus Day in New York City, Mariano A. Lucca and the National Columbus Day Committee successfully lobbied to get legislation created and ultimately passed to make the day a federal holiday. This went into effect in 1971 and was first celebrated federally that year.
The recognition of Columbus Day by all 50 US states is not unanimous. The District of Columbia, Colorado, Hawaii, Alaska, Vermont, South Dakota, New Mexico, Maine, Minnesota, along with certain counties in California, do not recognize the day and replace its recognition with Indigenous People’s Day or a similar-themed holiday.
On October 8, 2021, former-President Joe Biden proclaimed “October 11, 2021, as Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” and called “upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.” No mention of Christopher Columbus or Columbus Day was mentioned in Biden’s proclamation, despite the collision of both holidays.
Trump said he will reinstate the holiday “under the same rules, dates, and locations, as it has had for all of the many decades before!”
On Thursday, Trump posted on Truth Social that the name of Memorial Day will be changd to “Victory Day for World War II.” Likewise Veterans Day will be changed to “Victory Day for World War I.”
No executive orders have been issued yet for the reinstatement of Columbus Day along with the military federal holiday name changes.
