L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, October, the month Italo- American orga- n i z a t i o n s throughout the United States celebrated Columbus Day with parades and public festas, is becoming a thing of the past. Since the 1992 Columbus Quincentennial commemora- tions, political activists have been watering down Colum- bus Day Discovery celebra- tions, to Indigenous people celebrations and anybody but Columbus celebrations. Al- though I am not happy about it, I adopted a "meglio di niente" (better than nothing) attitude, however, with this pandemic keeping our popu- lation either working from home or not working at all with time on their hands, Ad- miral Christopher Columbus statuary, paid for by Italo-American groups, not at taxpayer expense, is being defaced, beheaded or removed with no consequences of any kind, for defacing public property. T h i s m a k e s m e sad, but an excerpt from " T h e H i s t o r y o f S a n Francisco's Columbus Day Celebration" written by the L a t e H o n o r a b l e J o h n B . Molinari, Retired Justice, m e n t i o n s t h e October 1869 Celebration, s o a l l t h i n g s considered, Columbus had a good RUN! T h e e a r l i e s t a v a i l a b l e record of an event in San Francisco commemorating t h e d i s c o v e r y o f A m e r i c a by Christopher Columbus is to be found in the October 19, 1869 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle. In an a r t i c l e e n t i t l e d " T h e C o l u m b u s C e l e b r a t i o n : G r a n d P r o c e s s i o n a n d F e s t i v i t i e s a t t h e C i t y Gardens" it was reported as follows: "During the last week our Italian citizens were prepar- ing to celebrate the anniver- s a r y o f t h e d i s c o v e r y o f America by their fellow coun- t r y m a n C h r i s t o p h e r Columbus. On Sunday flags were flying from the various armories in the city belong- ing to the military organiza- tions that proposed to take part in commemorating the e v e n t a n d h o n o r i n g t h e memory of the most illustri- ous of all Italy's honored dead." In succeeding years, the "Italian Citizens" conducted celebrations honoring what t h e p r e s s d e s c r i b e d a s " A m e r i c a ' s B i r t h d a y . " Notable were the celebra- tions of 1872 and 1877 which featured a parade and a ban- quet. P r o m i n e n t a m o n g t h e Italians actively promoting t h e C o l u m b u s D a y C e l e b r a t i o n w a s A n g e l o Noce who came to California in 1850 when he was three years of age and who, in 1876, w a s a p p o i n t e d a s s i s t a n t Grand Marshal of the parade. Noce dedicated himself, both i n C a l i f o r n i a a n d l a t e r i n Colorado, to making the date o f C o l u m b u s ' d i s c o v e r y a state and national holiday. In 1882, due to Noce's untiring efforts, California accepted as a gift that magnificent statue of Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella which rests in t h e R o t u n d a o f t h e S t a t e Capitol in Sacramento. That s t a t u e , t h e n v a l u e d a t $30,000, was executed in Florence, Italy, and was six years in the making. Efforts of men like Noce were instrumental in secur- ing an official proclamation b y P r e s i d e n t H a r r i s o n i n 1 8 9 2 t h a t October 12, 1492 was the day that America was discovered by Christopher Columbus. In the immediate years that fol- lowed several other states declared October 12 a legal holiday. While President Harrison issued a "proclamation" in 1 8 9 2 , i t w a s i n 1 9 1 0 t h a t P r e s i d e n t T a f t declared October 12 to be a legal holiday, thus giving impetus and inspiration for the conception and planning b y t h e I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n Community of San Francisco o f i t s w o r l d - r e n o w n e d Columbus Day Celebration. The San Francisco Internal Exposition in 1915 celebrat- i n g t h e o p e n i n g o f t h e P a n a m a C a n a l h a d a Columbus Day Committee organized by the Salesian Fathers of Saints Peter and Paul's Church in the heart of the Italian community. These priests of the order founded b y S a i n t J o h n B o s c o h a d been sent to San Francisco's North Beach district to estab- lish a church in order that the spiritual needs of the Italian speaking community might be ministered to. The Roaring Twenties saw the expansion of the celebra- t i o n t o i n c l u d e a p a r a d e resplendent with marching units, bands, decorated auto- mobiles and floats that grew to a parade three hours in duration that began at Civic Center, ended in North Beach in front of Saints Peter and P a u l ' s C h u r c h o p p o s i t e Washington Square Park, and was witnessed by many thousands. In 1968 the Aquatic Park Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. P a g e a n t e n a c t i n g t h e Columbus landing merged w i t h t h e C o l u m b u s D a y Celebration and was held on the afternoon of the official Monday Columbus Day holi- d a y . F o r o v e r 2 5 y e a r s Joseph Cervetto enacted t h e r o l e o f C h r i s t o p h e r Colmubus in all of the cele- bration's activities. Like the man he portrayed, Cervetto was born in the environs of Genoa. *** The Celebration expanded through the years and includ- ed art contests for school children, bocce ball contests, a baseball game participated i n b y b a s e b a l l p l a y e r s o f Italian origin, and bicycle races. The Celebration initiat- ed with a queen coronation ceremony at City Hall, at which the Mayor proclaimed the beginning of the annual celebration. O v e r t h e y e a r s m a n y prominent personalities par- ticipated in the Celebration, and among the speakers at the annual banquet, some which I attended, were nota- b l e s C l a i r e B o o t h L u c e , W a l t e r W i n c h e l l , Congressman Peter Rodino and Vice President Walter Mondale. T h e C o i t T o w e r c e r e - m o n i e s a t t h e s i t e o f t h e C o l u m b u s Monument have also been graced with the presence of outstanding speakers. That is the site where Columbus stat- u a r y w a s d e f a c e d a n d removed from its pedestal. The monument was dedi- cated on October 12, 1957 at c e r e m o n i e s o n T e l e g r a p h Hill, where the Columbus Monument Committee for- mally presented the monu- ment to the City and County of San Francisco. The bronze monument was sculptured in Italy and transported by ship to San Francisco. *** So Dear Readers, let us be grateful for the many years of happy Columbus Celebration Memories, but most of all let u s b e g r a t e f u l t h a t t h i s Columbus bashing is taking place now that we are adults a n d n o t i n g r a d e s c h o o l : w h e n o u r h i s t o r y b o o k s seemed to extoll the accom- plishment of those whose ancestors came over on the Mayflower and had surnames that did not end with a vowel, we little Italian-American kids had Columbus with a day off, so we could hold our heads high.

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