Focus on this artwork and discuss the History.
The statue was dedicated on Columbus Day 1979, at a ceremony attended by Stivaletta, the Italian American community of Boston, Mayor Kevin White and former governor John Volpe. Shortly afterwards, on November 18, 1979, Stivaletta burned the flag of Iran in front of the statue. He presented to the audience of 200 spectators a man wearing a rubber devil mask, explaining that he was a caricature of the Ayatollah Khomeini. In December 1981, Stivaletta's organization Wake Up America burned the flag of the Soviet Union in front of the statue. Stivaletta remarked, “We stand here before Christopher Columbus, in a country founded by people looking for political and religious freedom … to show support for nations searching for freedom.”On Columbus Day 1982, the Friends of Christopher Columbus Park held a Catholic mass in front of the statue and laid a wreath on its pedestal. In 1999, the director of the Massachusetts Historical Society published an op-ed in the Boston Globe calling for the statue to be removed, noting that Boston has no historical connection to Christopher Columbus. He suggested restoring the park to commemorate its historical use as a fishing wharf.
Boston Globe Kevin White Ayatollah Khomeini Columbus Day Boston flag of the Soviet Union Christopher Columbus op-ed John Volpe flag of Iran Massachusetts Historical Society Massachusetts