Focus on this artwork and explain the Background.
The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization dominated by Italian Americans, opened Waterfront Park in 1976. In 1979, pro-Vietnam War activist and building contractor Arthur Stivaletta commissioned the statue. The Knights accordingly changed the name of the park to Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park.The North End was a traditionally Italian neighborhood, and Columbus was a symbolic figure for Italian Americans in Boston as well as throughout the country. As early as 1900, George A. Scigliano had pushed to designate Columbus Day a holiday in Massachusetts. Conversely, other Catholics in Boston apparently did not appreciate the use of Columbus; in 1922, the Irish-American cardinal William Henry O'Connell removed a statue of Columbus from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
William Henry O'Connell Italian Americans George A. Scigliano Columbus Day Boston Knights of Columbus Cathedral of the Holy Cross Arthur Stivaletta Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park North End Massachusetts