Columbus Day is celebrated on October 14^th and the monument located at Columbus Circle downtown, is definitely one of the most known local monuments in Syracuse. History curator Robert Searing of the Onondaga Historical Association says the story behind how it found its home in Central New York is an important part of our history.

“You have a paradoxical situation where Columbus represents to the Italian community, not just in Syracuse, but all over the United States, a symbol of American-ness and ethnic and civic pride,” Searing says. “The figure of Columbus has become a figure to look at more realistically and not as heroically as he was in the past.”