Monday is Columbus Day, and some activists are demanding the city provide answers about the process that led to the removal of three statues of Christopher Columbus, and trying to find out if they can be put back on public display.
Back in 2020, then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot had three monuments to Columbus taken down amid massive social justice protests. A commission charged with reviewing the issue then affirmed the decision.
On Sunday, the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans and other groups and residents gathered in Arrigo Park on the Near West Side to call for the return of the statues, a "transparent review" of the decisions surrounding their removal, and an explanation of what legal options might be available to get them mounted again.
The group defending the statues said they "carried deep sentimental, cultural, religious, and family significance, connecting generations of Italian immigrants and their descendants to their heritage and their place in American history."
The group called on President Trump to bring national attention to the issue of Columbus statues in Chicago. It noted that a reconstructed Columbus statue has been brought to the White House. Last week, Mr. Trump added a statue of Columbus to the White House Rose Garden and told reporters he wants to "resurrect" the explorer's legacy.
"You've got multiple cultures in Chicago, and different multi-foods, so you cannot erase Italian Americans," said community activist Walter Adamczyk. "Italian Americans, this is their heritage month."
On July 17, 2020, protesters clashed with police officers at the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park. Some of the protesters tried to wrap a rope around the statue and tear it down.
A week later, the Grant Park statue was removed, to the cheers of people who said monuments to Columbus insult Indigenous Americans. The Arrigo Park statue and a third, part of a fountain at 92nd Street and Exchange Avenue, were also removed.
For years afterward, Italian American groups in the city fought to put the Columbus statues back up. In May 2025, the Chicago Park District reached a deal to loan the former Arrigo Park statue to the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans for a museum display.
In February, the Chicago Park District announced that Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini would be memorialized in a new monument in Arrigo Park, at Polk and Loomis streets. The Italian-born missionary was chosen in an online voting contest launched by the park district to replace the Columbus statue.
