The Christopher Columbus Monument was a marble statue of the explorer

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

in the

Little Italy Little Italy is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an Urban area, urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian cul ...

neighborhood of Downtown

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. The monument was brought down by protesters and dumped into the

Inner Harbor The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and landmark in Baltimore, Maryland. It was described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as "the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the world". The Inner Harbo ...

on July 4, 2020, one of numerous monuments removed during the George Floyd protests. The statue is being reproduced by the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...

Description

Christopher Columbus Monument Baltimore 27

The

marble sculpture Marble has been the preferred material for stone monumental sculpture since ancient times, with several advantages over its more common geological "parent" limestone, in particular the ability to absorb light a small distance into the surface b ...

depicted

. The memorial included a marble base featuring the three ships of the Columbus fleet: the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María. It bore the inscription "Discoverer of America."

History

The Christopher Columbus Monument was the newest of Baltimore's three monuments dedicated to the explorer

. Located in Columbus Piazza, in front of

Scarlett Place Scarlett Place is a residential condominium development in downtown Baltimore, overlooking the Inner Harbor and the Jones Falls canal, adjacent to Little Italy and Harbor East, and fronting on Columbus Park. History In 1894, William G. Scarlett ...

condominiums, the sculpture was designed by Mauro Bigarani and was commissioned by donations from the Italian American Organization United of Maryland and the Italian American community of Baltimore. The statue was unveiled by then-Mayor

William Donald Schaefer William Donald Schaefer (November 2, 1921 – April 18, 2011) was an American politician who served in public office for 50 years at both the state and local level in Maryland. As a Democrat, he was the 45th mayor of Baltimore from December 197 ...

and President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

in October 1984.

Vandalism and destruction

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

2020, a group of protestors gathered at the piazza to remove the statue by lassoing the top of the monument, according to footage of the event. The monument subsequently fell to the ground and broke into fragments. The protesters continued by rolling the body of the statue into the

Jones Falls The Jones Falls is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 stream in Maryland. It is impounded to create Lake Roland before running through the city of Baltim ...

canal of the

Baltimore Harbor The Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore is a shipping port along the tidal basins of the three branches of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, on the upper northwest shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is the nation's largest port facil ...

. The event came days before a warning made by the organization known as the Baltimore BLOC that the group would be destroying the monument if the city did not take upon the action themselves. Afterwards, Baltimore BLOC celebrated and applauded their "kinfolk" involved in the statue's destruction. During the days leading up to the statue's demise, former State Senator John Pica attempted to raise funds for the statue's relocation, which was estimated to be approximately $100,000. On June 26, 2020, supporters of the monument, including state delegates

Nino Mangione Antonino D. "Nino" Mangione ( ; born April 1, 1987) is an American politician from the Republican Party who is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 42A since 2023, and District 42B from 2019 to 2023. He also served ...

and

Kathy Szeliga Kathy Szeliga (born October 10, 1961) is an American politician who has served as a Republican member of the Maryland House of Delegates since January 12, 2011, and as Minority Whip from 2013 to 2021. Szeliga was the Republican nominee for the U ...

as well as state senator Johnny Salling, gathered to promote keeping the monument as it stands. As with many of the recent monument removals across America, reactions were mixed. Governor

Larry Hogan Lawrence Joseph Hogan Jr. (born May 25, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 62nd governor of Maryland from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party and son of three-term U.S. representative Lawrence Hogan, he served as co-ch ...

denounced the vandalism and instead encouraged having a "constructive dialogue" regarding monument removal. Mayor Jack Young commented that the statue's destruction was "part of a national and global reexamination over monuments".

Future

The statue was fished out of the river by the

. The statue had broken into 12 pieces and it was determined to be unsalvageable, however the Knights of Columbus stated they would reproduce the statue. In October of 2020 it was revealed that the statue mold was being produced. It was estimated to cost $80–85,000, and that they had raised nearly half the funds at that point. It will not return to its original spot. In November the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

announced that they would give $30,000 to the Knights of Columbus to help assist with the recreation of the statue, along with three others.

References

External links

Video of the vandalism by The Telegraph
{{monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests 1984 establishments in Maryland 1984 sculptures Destroyed sculptures Knights of Columbus Little Italy, Baltimore Marble sculptures in the United States Monuments and memorials in Maryland Monuments and memorials in the United States removed during the George Floyd protests Outdoor sculptures in Baltimore Presidency of Ronald Reagan Riots and civil disorder in Baltimore Sculptures of men in Maryland