Columbus Day

Today is Columbus Day, much to the chagrin of many and known to few, save for government workers and bank employees.  Almost from its inception as a recognized American holiday in 1971, newspapers have been calling for its abolition, to include the Post-Crescent in 1972, as represented below.  A popular holiday in the 19th century, the day was commemorated with parades and the like.  But in the wake of American expansionism and manifest destiny thinking, today we are more apt to take a more pragmatic viewpoint and see the observance of this explorer as an affront to the natural peoples of the US and the forcible taking of their lands.  Contrast the article below from 1892 with the editorial from eighty years later.  You, the reader, can make your own conclusions.  But like it or not, there'll still be no mail service today, stock market activity, or banking available in Menasha or elsewhere. 

October 29, 1892, Appleton Post-Crescent

 

October 17, 1972, Appleton Post-Crescent