La Merica
WHOSE COLUMBUS? WHOSE COLUMBUS DAY? Part 5: Strange Things Happen in Philadelphia...
Why is Columbus Day the most controversial of American holidays?
People disagree —often violently —about its past and present meaning.
Here are the facts. Make of them what you will!
***
Christopher Columbus... Guglielmo Marconi... Frank Rizzo...
Meet Italian Philadelphia's historic Gang of Three!
Now imagine them all in Marconi Plaza— South Philly's iconic park— face to face for Eternity.
MUSSOLINI: THE WILD MAN OF EUROPE - Part 3
In a "Little Library" in Washington DC, I happened upon "Mussolini: The Wild Man of Europe"— John Bond's eccentric exposé of Benito Mussolini, printed in the Nation's Capital in 1929.
In my first post, "Wild Man, Part 1", Bond helped reveal the inner workings of the Ku Klux Klan in Washington DC, Atlanta GA and Altoona PA.
In "Wild Man, Part 2", we took Bond's book to Fascist Italy and viewed the Duce through the outraged author's eyes.
Here in "Wild Man", Part 3", we bring Bond back to Philo-Fascist America. There we see the Duce lauded by Italian Americans, by Hollywood celebrities and by the mainstream press.
Who was John Bond? A "Militant Freemason", a virulent anti-Catholic and an anti-Mussolini conspiracy theorist.
How about his message? Bond was strange and obsessed but he wasn't always wrong.
WORK IN PROGRESS
MUSSOLINI: THE WILD MAN OF EUROPE - Part 2
In a "Little Library" in Washington DC, I happened upon "Mussolini: The Wild Man of Europe"— John Bond's eccentric exposé of Benito Mussolini, printed in the Nation's Capital in 1929.
In my first post, "Wild Man, Part 1", Bond helped reveal the inner workings of the Ku Klux Klan in Washington DC, Atlanta GA and Altoona PA.
Here in "Wild Man, Part 2", we take Bond's book to Fascist Italy and view the Duce through the outraged author's eyes.
In "Wild Man", Part 3", we bring Bond back to Philo-Fascist America. There we see the Duce lauded by Italian Americans, by Hollywood celebrities and by the mainstream press.
Who was John Bond? A "Militant Freemason", a virulent anti-Catholic and an anti-Mussolini conspiracy theorist.
How about his message? Bond was strange and obsessed but he wasn't always wrong.
MUSSOLINI: THE WILD MAN OF EUROPE - Part 1
In a "Little Library" in Washington DC, I happened upon "Mussolini: The Wild Man of Europe"— John Bond's eccentric exposé of Benito Mussolini, printed in the Nation's Capital in 1929.
In my first post, "Wild Man, Part 1", Bond helped reveal the inner workings of the Ku Klux Klan in Washington DC, Atlanta GA and Altoona PA.
In "Wild Man, Part 2", we took Bond's book to Fascist Italy and viewed the Duce through the outraged author's eyes.
Here in "Wild Man", Part 3", we bring Bond back to Philo-Fascist America. There we see the Duce lauded by Italian Americans, by Hollywood celebrities and by the mainstream press.
Who was John Bond? A "Militant Freemason", a virulent anti-Catholic and an anti-Mussolini conspiracy theorist.
How about his message? Bond was strange and obsessed but he wasn't always wrong.
WHOSE COLUMBUS? WHOSE COLUMBUS DAY? Part 1: It begins with a statue in Philadelphia in 1876
Why is Columbus Day the most controversial of American holidays?
People disagree —often violently —about its past and present meaning.
Here are the facts. Make of them what you will!
***
The story begins in South Philly (then and now) and takes us to the American Civil War and the 1876 Centennial Exposition.
We meet Christopher Columbus (in several incarnations), sculptor Emanuele Caroni and Nunzio Finelli (ideator of Philadelphia’s Columbus Statue, long in Fairmount Park, now in Marconi Plaza).
WHOSE COLUMBUS? WHOSE COLUMBUS DAY? Part 2: The New Orleans Massacre (1891) and Italian-American Identity
Why is Columbus Day the most controversial of American holidays?
People disagree —often violently —about its past and present meaning.
Here are the facts. Make of them what you will!
***
A deadly anti-Italian riot in New Orleans in 1891 gave rise to the Columbus Day holiday —or so many people claim.
We meet Italian Ambassador Francesco Fava and Italian Consul Pasquale Corte, plus a host of corrupt New Orleans politicians and rumor-mongering journalists across America and around the world.
WHOSE COLUMBUS? WHOSE COLUMBUS DAY? Part 3: Italian Columbus Day vs. American Columbus Day
Why is Columbus Day the most controversial of American holidays?
People disagree —often violently —about its past and present meaning.
Here are the facts. Make of them what you will!
***
“Everyone” knows that Columbus Day began in 1892 (1492 plus 400) when President Benjamin Harrison declared that national holiday —in reparation for the recent lynching of 11 Italians in New Orleans.
“Everyone” is wrong, however. The story is far more complicated —with two plausible “origin myths”, neither openly connected to the New Orleans tragedy.
1892 gave rise to a short-lived American Nativist Columbus Day, linked to the Schoolhouse Flag Movement and the new Pledge of Allegiance.
1892 also formalized an older and more durable Italian and Catholic Columbus Day— culminating in the dedication of the Columbus Monument in New York City.
WHOSE COLUMBUS? WHOSE COLUMBUS DAY? Part 4: Christopher Columbus Against the World
Why is Columbus Day the most controversial of American holidays?
People disagree —often violently —about its past and present meaning.
Here are the facts. Make of them what you will!
***
Christopher Columbus, Frank Rizzo, George Floyd, Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani…
Black Lives Matter, Indigenous Peoples Day, Italian Liberation and the January 6, 2021 Assault on the Capitol…
Philadelphia's "notorious" Columbus Statue, "notorious" Rizzo Statue and "notorious" Rizzo Mural...
What do these all have in common?
“Everything and Nothing” is the easy answer.