Goodbye Columbus?
Movement grows to remove statue from park
STAMFORD — Amid nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd have come renewed calls to remove certain monuments from public spaces, including those venerating Confederate leaders in towns and cities across the South, and others honoring Christopher Columbus — which can be found in public squares in all corners of the country. Including Stamford.
Mayor David Martin’s office in recent weeks has received about 200 requests to remove the statue of Columbus in Columbus Park, city officials said.
“Nationally, there have been comments made about statues dedicated to Christopher Columbus, but this is the first organized movement to remove Stamford’s,” said Arthur Augustyn, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office.
The City Charter gives the responsibility of naming parks and statues to the Board of Representatives. The mayor will “support what the community decides” in the matter, Augustyn said.
Jere Eaton, a small business owner who organized last weekend’s Black Votes Matter rally, said Friday it’s time for Stamford to remove the statue and consider renaming the public park to better represent the city and its large Italian-American population.
“Italians have a rich and wonderful heritage,” said Eaton, former chair of the Mayor’s Multicultural Council. “Why would you have Columbus be your representative?”
The granite statue of the 15th-century explorer was erected when the former West Park was renamed Columbus Park in the 1960s, according to news reports. As a monument to a prominent historical figure, it was later joined by likenesses of Jackie Robinson in Jackie Robinson Park and Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at Boxer Square on Stillwater Avenue.
The city Arts and Culture Commission has been logging an inventory of all city landmarks and artifacts over the past several years, Augustyn said.
Columbus’ image and the way he is taught in schools has changed dramatically over the years since the statue debuted. Schoolchildren, who were once taught Columbus “discovered” America, now learn his arrival led to atrocities against the indigenous people of North and South America.
“There needs to be a conversation,” said Eaton, who counts the Meherrin and Lumbee tribes in her own heritage. “It’s really important that history be depicted as it happened.”
While most of the recent debate over statues has centered on monuments to Confederate leaders such as Gen. Robert E. Lee, Columbus has also come under fire. This month, New London’s mayor approved removal of the city’s Columbus statue to prevent possible vandalism.
In New Haven, Italian community leaders have joined an effort to remove a Columbus statue in Wooster Square Park. The group hopes to move the statue, possibly to a museum where it could be viewed in full context and replace it with something else honoring Italian American heritage.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker and Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin both announced their support for eliminating statues of Columbus in their respective cities. Elected officials in Middletown and New London also recently removed monuments to Columbus.
Eaton, who plans to hold a rally on the issue soon, said she would support preserving the Stamford statue, perhaps at the Italian Center on Newfield Avenue.
She also supports an idea for the empty space that would be left if Stamford’s statue were to be removed. It could be used to honor the late Ella Grasso, the first woman governor of Connecticut, Eaton said. A child of Italian immigrants who was fluent in the language, Grasso served as governor from 1975 to 1980 and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984.
“You’re really talking about a hero there,” Eaton said.