You probably think of October when the subject of Christopher Columbus comes up. Maybe you're thinking about a day off work or a sale at the mattress store. But if you're asking when was Columbus Day started, the answer isn't a single date on a calendar. It's a messy, centuries-long evolution that says more about American identity than it does about a 15th-century voyage.
History is weird like that.
The very first recorded celebration of Columbus in the United States didn’t happen until 1792. Think about that for a second. The country was barely a country. New York City’s Tammany Hall—yes, that infamous political machine—organized an event to mark the 300th anniversary of the landing. They weren't necessarily obsessed with the "discovery" of America. They were trying to create a national hero who wasn't British. After fighting a bloody revolution against the Crown, Americans needed icons that didn't wear a red coat. Columbus fit the bill perfectly because he was an Italian working for Spain. He was the "Founding Father" before the Founding Fathers were even a thing.
The 1892 Turning Point
Fast forward a hundred years. This is where things get official, at least for a moment. In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison issued a one-time proclamation for a national celebration of Columbus Day. This was the 400th anniversary.
Why then? It wasn't just about the round number.
America was a powder keg of tension. The year before, in 1891, one of the largest mass lynchings in U.S. history took place in New Orleans. The victims? Eleven Italian immigrants. Anti-Italian sentiment was rampant. Italian-Americans were seen as "other," often discriminated against in housing and labor. President Harrison, facing diplomatic pressure from Italy and hoping to soothe domestic racial tensions, used Columbus—the most famous Italian in history—as a bridge. He wanted to tell the country that Italians were part of the American fabric.
It was a PR move. Honestly, most holidays are.
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Harrison's proclamation urged Americans to cease from work and "devote themselves to such exercises as may express honor to the discoverer and their appreciation of the great achievements of the four completed centuries of American life." It was a massive hit. Schools across the country held ceremonies. The Pledge of Allegiance? It was actually written by Francis Bellamy specifically for this 1892 Columbus Day celebration in schools.
When Was Columbus Day Started as a Legal Holiday?
Even after the 1892 blowout, it wasn't a recurring legal holiday. That took some serious lobbying.
Enter the Knights of Columbus. This Catholic fraternal organization was founded in 1882, and they made it their mission to turn Columbus Day into a permanent fixture. For them, it was about religious and ethnic pride. They wanted to prove that you could be a good Catholic and a good American at the same time. At the time, that was actually a controversial idea.
Colorado became the first state to make it an official holiday in 1907. It's kinda funny that a landlocked state led the charge for a maritime explorer, but there you go. Within a few decades, dozens of other states followed suit.
But federal recognition? That took even longer.
In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, under heavy pressure from the Knights of Columbus and Italian-American groups, signed a law making October 12th a federal holiday. But here’s the kicker: it wasn't the "long weekend" we know today. It stayed on October 12th every single year, regardless of what day of the week it fell on.
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The Uniform Monday Holiday Act
Everything changed in 1968. Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The government basically decided that three-day weekends were better for the economy and morale than random mid-week breaks. This act moved several holidays—including Washington's Birthday and Memorial Day—to designated Mondays.
When was Columbus Day started as a Monday holiday? That happened in 1971. That is when the second Monday in October became the official federal standard.
The Modern Shift to Indigenous Peoples' Day
You can't talk about the start of Columbus Day without talking about its decline—or rather, its transformation.
The narrative has shifted. Hard.
In 1977, at a United Nations international conference on discrimination against indigenous populations, the idea of Indigenous Peoples' Day was first proposed. People started looking at the "discovery" of America from the perspective of those who were already here. They looked at the colonization, the slavery, and the disease that followed Columbus's wake.
South Dakota was the trailblazer here. In 1990, they renamed the holiday "Native American Day." Two years later, Berkeley, California, became the first city to officially adopt "Indigenous Peoples' Day" specifically to protest the 500th anniversary of Columbus's arrival.
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Today, it's a patchwork.
- Some states, like Florida and Hawaii, don't celebrate Columbus Day at all.
- Others, like New Mexico and Maine, have officially replaced it.
- In 2021, Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to formally mark Indigenous Peoples' Day with a presidential proclamation, though he didn't scrap the Columbus Day proclamation either.
It's a dual reality now.
Why the Origins Matter Today
Understanding when was Columbus Day started helps explain why the debate is so heated. If you think the holiday started in 1492, you're missing the point. It started in the late 1800s and early 1900s as a way for an immigrant group—Italians—to feel like they belonged in a country that often hated them.
For many Italian-Americans, the holiday isn't about the man Columbus; it's about their grandparents' struggle. For Indigenous communities, the holiday is a reminder of a genocide that started with a landing in the Caribbean.
Both things can be true at once.
The history of the holiday is a history of political maneuvering. It's about New York politicians in the 1790s, a President in the 1890s trying to stop lynchings, and a Catholic group in the 1930s looking for a seat at the table.
How to Navigate the Holiday Now
If you are looking for actionable ways to handle the second Monday in October, consider these steps:
- Check Local Calendars: Because the holiday is in transition, school closures and mail delivery vary wildly by state and city. Don't assume your local bank is closed just because it's a federal holiday.
- Support Indigenous Businesses: Use the day to seek out Native American-owned businesses or artists. It’s a practical way to acknowledge the "Indigenous Peoples' Day" side of the calendar.
- Read the Original Journals: Don't take a textbook's word for it. Read translated excerpts from Columbus's own logs. They are eye-opening and often contradict the "heroic explorer" myth while also being more complex than the "pure villain" trope.
- Visit Cultural Museums: Many Italian-American and Native American museums hold events on this day. It's a better way to learn history than through a parade or a protest.
- Understand the Legal Status: If you're an employer or employee, know that while it is a federal holiday, private companies are not required to give the day off. Only about 15% of private businesses actually do.
The story of Columbus Day isn't finished. It’s a living piece of history that continues to evolve as our understanding of the past grows deeper and more inclusive. Whether it will exist in its current form twenty years from now is anyone's guess. But for now, it remains a strange, complicated reminder of how America tries—and sometimes fails—to tell its own story.