This Monday marks the 77th Anniversary of Columbus Day, the day the United States commemorates Christopher Columbus for landing in the New World in 1492. For most of us, this holiday just means an extra day we can sleep in and not go to class; we don’t really give it much more thought.
The truth is, Columbus Day is a holiday that actually represents a really violent and shameful time period of North American and US history (Columbus, contrary to what most of us were probably taught in elementary school) was actually responsible for the death and enslavement of millions of Indigenous Peoples, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There has been an increasing amount of evidence that Columbus was a really, really awful guy who doesn’t deserve a bench dedicated to him, let alone an entire national holiday.
This evidence makes it pretty clear: Columbus Day has got to go. I’m not saying we should get rid of the holiday all together. Instead, maybe we should rename this holiday for a group of people who have had a far more positive and important influence on our history. While some parts of the country have already started doing this, nothing has been done to change Columbus Day on a national level. So, US Government, if you’re searching for someone to replace Columbus, here are a couple amazing women from US History who could definitely make the cut.
1. Rosa Parks
“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” [x]
Talking about how important Rosa Parks was to our history might be a little obvious, but her work and influence is so significant that it’s still worth talking about. We all know her as the woman who refused to give up her seat on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, as well as a tireless civil rights activist working closely with Martin Luther King Jr. and the NAACP.
Many might not know that she was also an activist against sexual assault and domestic violence towards women of color. With the Montgomery NAACP, she collected and investigated stories about women being harassed at work, at home, and on the street. Parks’ incredible efforts to improve the lives of the people in her community, as well as the entire United States, are more than enough to kick Columbus out of this national holiday spot.
2. Susan La Flesche Picotte
“I know that I shall be unpopular for a while with my people, because they will misconstrue my efforts, but this is nothing, just so I can help them for their own good.” [x]
Susan La Flesche Picotte is most famously recognized for becoming the first Native American woman to become a physician. When she was a child, she witnessed a sick Native American woman die because a white doctor refused to give her care. That inspired her to become a doctor and help bring better medical care to her people.
While working as a doctor, she was also an activist for prohibiting alcohol on her reservation. In 1913, she opened up a hospital in Walthill, Nebraska, which was her lifelong dream. During her career as a doctor, she helped over 1,300 people across a span of 450 miles. While many of us probably didn’t learn much about her in our high school history classes, her positive influence still touched thousands of lives, making her more than deserving of this national holiday spot.
3. Eleanor Roosevelt
“Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively.” [x]
Eleanor Roosevelt is another woman who is easily a better fit for this holiday than Columbus. As writer and activist, she was incredibly intelligent and outspoken. She worked with her husband in his campaigns for vice president and eventually president, despite advice from other woman not to.
Before she became the first lady, she was an active writer, part-owner of a preparatory school for girls, and a member of the League of Women Voters. When President Roosevelt was elected president, she became one of the most influential first ladies and worked closely with her husband on his New Deal policies. She also was a member of the Washington D.C. branch of the NAACP and worked to help European refugees during World War II.
4 & 5. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.” -Stanton [x]
“It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.” -Anthony [x]
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were a feminist and abolitionist dynamic-duo in the mid to late 1800s that you did not want to mess with. While you probably learned some of the amazing work they did in your high school history class, you probably didn’t really learn just how incredible they actually were.
While they were already pretty active abolitionists and feminists before they met, some of their biggest achievements happened after they became friends in the 1850’s. Just a few of the things they were able to accomplish together include: lobbying for the New York’s Married Women’s Property Law to be passed (meaning women were able to own property and engage in business on her own), forming the first national women’s political organization (Women’s Loyal National League), publishing the newspaper The Revolution, and creating the National Woman Suffrage Association. The legacy of their friendship is so important and influential to our history that there is pretty much no reason not to dedicate a holiday to them.
6. Maya Angelou
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” [x]
Although most people know probably Maya Angelou as an incredibly accomplished singer and writer, what may be less obvious is that she was also an influential civil rights activist.
Along with publishing over thirty written works during her lifetime, she also wrote the first screenplay to be made into a movie by an African American woman (Georgia, Georgia), worked with Martin Luther King Jr. in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and was invited to work by President Ford and President Carter on the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission and the Presidential Commission for the International Year of the Woman. Maya Angelou’s beautiful artistic works and her activism should easily give her national holiday recognition.
So, while you’re enjoying your much needed day off this weekend, consider thinking about and celebrating some amazing women from our history, and leave Christopher Columbus out of the equation.