As we celebrate Columbus Day, we remember a story that reaches beyond 1492—to the millions of Italians who crossed the Atlantic seeking faith, family, dignity, and a new home.
In 1887, Bishop Giovanni Battista Scalabrini responded to the great Italian migration by founding his missionary institute in Piacenza, placing it under the name of Christopher Columbus. He understood that migrants needed more than practical assistance; they needed faith, community, and people willing to accompany them on their journey.
The connection between Columbus, Italy, and America takes on special meaning at Genoa's Galata Museo del Mare, where a Columbus exhibition tells the story of the voyages that connected continents. At the end of the interactive Columbus exhibit, a plaque recalls the 1891 New Orleans massacre of eleven Italian immigrants. Seeing the story of the massacre being told in Genoa is a deeply moving reminder of the suffering endured by Italian immigrants—and of the courage with which they built new lives.
President Benjamin Harrison responded to the tragedy, while the 1892 celebration of Columbus's fourth centenary and the work of the Knights of Columbus helped affirm Italian-American identity and belonging. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the law on June 28, 1968, establishing Columbus Day as a federal legal holiday, to be observed on the second Monday of October beginning in 1971. Congress enacted the holiday through the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.
Genoa continues to preserve this heritage. The Casa di Colombo, traditionally identified as the home where Columbus spent part of his childhood, stands near Porta Soprana in the heart of the historic city. Genoa also remembers the great 1892 Italian-American Exposition, held to commemorate the fourth centenary of the voyage and attended by more than 800,000 people. Today, exhibitions, ceremonies, cultural programs, and celebrations in Genoa keep this connection between Columbus, Genoa, Italy, and the Americas alive.
Today, Italian-Americans celebrate that heritage through parades, festivals, religious processions, music, food, and family gatherings.
Columbus Day is a day of remembrance of Genoa, New Orleans, Scalabrini, and the generations of immigrants who transformed their journeys across the ocean into a legacy of faith, family, and community. Columbus Day recalls a deep legacy: faith that accompanies migrants, courage that confronts prejudice, and a commitment to building communities where every newcomer can find welcome and dignity.
