Recent efforts have been launched to rescind Columbus Day. I, speaking on behalf of the Dante Alighieri Society, firmly believe that the voyages of Christopher Columbus represent a tremendous human achievement. Collectively, they symbolize a documented “first encounter.”

That being said, the importance of Columbus’s voyages should not be – should never be – trivialized. For that reason, The Dante Alighieri Society fully supports the continuation of Columbus Day as a recognized holiday. Columbus Day was first celebrated in New York in 1792, the 300th anniversary of Columbus’s voyage. A century later, Congress designated Columbus Day a national holiday to be celebrated each October 12; and, in 1971, Columbus Day became a federal holiday observed on the second Monday of October.