The Christopher Columbus Monument was a marble statue of the explorer

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

in the

Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...

neighborhood of Downtown

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The monument was brought down by protesters and dumped into the

Inner Harbor The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and landmark of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. It was described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as "the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the world". The ...

on July 4, 2020, one of numerous monuments removed during the George Floyd protests. The statue is being reproduced by the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...

Description

Christopher Columbus Monument Baltimore 27

The

marble sculpture Marble has been the preferred material for stone monumental sculpture since ancient times, with several advantages over its more common geological "parent" limestone, in particular the ability to absorb light a small distance into the surface be ...

depicted

. The memorial included a marble base featuring the three ships of the Columbus fleet: the

Niña ''La Niña'' (Spanish for ''The Girl'') was one of the three Spanish ships used by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in his first voyage to the West Indies in 1492. As was tradition for Spanish ships of the day, she bore a female saint's name ...

, the Pinta, and the Santa María. It bore the inscription "Discoverer of America."

History

The Christopher Columbus Monument was the newest of Baltimore's three monuments dedicated to the explorer

. Located in Columbus Piazza, the sculpture was designed by Mauro Bigarani and was commissioned by donations from the Italian American Organization United of Maryland and the Italian American community of Baltimore. The statue was unveiled by then-Mayor

William Donald Schaefer William Donald Schaefer (November 2, 1921 – April 18, 2011) was an American politician who served in public office for 50 years at both the state and local level in Maryland. As a Democrat, he was the 45th mayor of Baltimore from December 1 ...

and President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

in October 1984.

Vandalism and destruction

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

2020, a group of protestors gathered at the piazza to remove the statue by lassoing the top of the monument, according to footage of the event. The monument subsequently fell to the ground and broke into fragments. The protesters continued by rolling the body of the statue into the

Jones Falls The Jones Falls is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 stream in Maryland. It is impounded to create Lake Roland before running through the city of Baltim ...

canal of the

Baltimore Harbor Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore is a shipping port along the tidal basins of the three branches of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland on the upper northwest shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is the nation's largest port facilities fo ...

. The event came days before a warning made by the organization known as the Baltimore BLOC that the group would be destroying the monument if the city did not take upon the action themselves. Afterwards, Baltimore BLOC celebrated and applauded their "kinfolk" involved in the statue's destruction. During the days leading up to the statue's demise, former State Senator John Pica attempted to raise funds for the statue's relocation, which was estimated to be approximately $100,000. On June 26, 2020, supporters of the monument, including state delegates

Nino Mangione Antonino Mangione (born April 1, 1987) is an American politician from the Republican Party who is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 42A since 2023, and District 42B from 2019 to 2023. He also served as a Baltimore ...

and

Kathy Szeliga Kathy Szeliga (born October 10, 1961) is an American politician who has served as a Republican member of the Maryland House of Delegates since January 12, 2011, and as Minority Whip since 2013. Szeliga was the Republican nominee for the United St ...

as well as state senator Johnny Salling, gathered to promote keeping the monument as it stands. As with many of the recent monument removals across America, reactions were mixed. Governor

Larry Hogan Lawrence Joseph Hogan Jr. (born May 25, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 62nd governor of Maryland since 2015. A moderate member of the Republican Party, he was secretary of appointments under Maryland governor Bo ...

denounced the vandalism and instead encouraged having a "constructive dialogue" regarding monument removal. Mayor Jack Young commented that the statue's destruction was "part of a national and global reexamination over monuments".

Future

The statue was fished out of the river by the

. The statue had broken into 12 pieces and it was determined to be unsalvageable, however the Knights of Columbus stated they would reproduce the statue. In October it was revealed that the statue mold was being produced. It was estimated to cost $80–85,000, and that they had raised nearly half the funds at that point. It will not return to its original spot. In November the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

announced that they would give $30,000 to the Knights of Columbus to help assist with the recreation of the statue, along with three others.

References

External links

Video of the vandalism by The Telegraph
{{monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests 1984 establishments in Maryland 1984 sculptures Destroyed sculptures Knights of Columbus Little Italy, Baltimore Marble sculptures in the United States Monuments and memorials in Maryland Monuments and memorials in the United States removed during the George Floyd protests Outdoor sculptures in Baltimore Presidency of Ronald Reagan Riots and civil disorder in Baltimore Sculptures of men in Maryland