As Columbus Day quickly approaches, the Italian American community celebrated a major win in New Hampshire in their efforts to preserve the holiday. With the passage of House Bill 1014, which went into effect on September 10th after being signed by Governor Chris Sununu, educational institutions and local governments in the Granite State will be required to “use a holiday’s statutorily designated title in official communications, publications, and documents.” This means that cities that have chosen to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day will have no choice but to reference the famed navigator in their official documentation.
This legislation comes in the wake of a previous bill (HB1335) that aimed to remove Columbus Day as a holiday altogether, but was deemed “inexpedient to legislate” in a 14-1 vote back in March. HB1335 didn’t stand a chance with several notable lawmakers like Sen. Lou D’Allesandro and Rep. Susan Porcelli testifying against it.
“They can have Indigenous Peoples’ Day, but they can’t substitute for an existing holiday,” said D’Allesandro. “I’m of Italian American lineage. And I think the reason Columbus Day was declared by a president of the United States was because of the atrocity committed in New Orleans where Italians were hung for no reason. No one was ever charged with the crime. No one was ever convicted. This was the president’s way of making due for an atrocity that was committed. And he created Columbus Day. I think we should keep it.”
As a result, a number of communities in New Hampshire like Durham, Dover, Portsmouth, and others that have recently opted to swap Columbus Day for Indigenous Peoples’ Day will need to recognize the holiday by its rightful name, and several municipalities are already falling in line.
For example, Durham has changed the town’s official holiday schedule to designate October 14th, 2024 as Columbus Day (although it still states “Also designated locally as Indigenous Peoples’ Day by Town Council Resolution #2017-28”). Additionally, city Manager J. Michael Joyal Jr. confirmed that Dover plans to recognize Columbus Day on their calendar in accordance with state law. However, he also noted that doing so “does not prevent us from acknowledging or allowing festivities or information, events or whatever that are centered around Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”
Several Italian American advocacy groups and their leaders have come out in support of HB1014, including Mike Daigle of the Friends of Italian Americans. As a Portsmouth resident and president of the organization, Daigle mentioned that his group is “forever grateful to the New Hampshire State Legislature and governor for preserving Columbus Day as a named holiday” which is the “only holiday dedicated to the immigrant community in the United States.”
“October has long been identified as Italian American Heritage Month, and bringing the second Monday in October back as Columbus Day is not an attack on Indigenous people of the United States,” Daigle continued. “In fact, our organization hopes the City and Council will consider another day on the calendar to be proclaimed Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Having a separate Indigenous Peoples’ Day in addition to a separate Columbus Day will honor both minorities with the respect they correctly deserve.”
A similar sentiment was echoed by the Italian American One Voice Coalition, a group of anti-bias activists that even elected the New Hampshire State Legislature and Governor Chris Sununu to the “IAOVC Hall of Fame” for their contributions to the preservation of Columbus Day.
“We are extremely pleased and happy that Governor Sununu and the State Legislature took this critically important action to correctly recognize the single most iconic day for Italian Americans, and actually all Americans” said Andre DiMino, IAOVC President. “We now urge the rest of the states to follow New Hampshire leadership and do the right thing by officially recognizing the Columbus Day Federal Holiday.”
Resources:
- NH Law Requires Columbus Day to Be Recognized by Cities That Replaced It [ISDA]
- NH law forces Columbus Day to be recognized by cities, towns that replaced it [Portsmouth Herald]
- IAOVC Elects New Hampshire Governor & State Legislature to Hall of Fame for Preserving Columbus Day by State Law [IAOVC]
