Columbus and Erikson: the North End and the Southern beginning

Unlike many American cities, Boston's celebration of Columbus Day is a major event. With big parades and brass bands, the city's tributes to Christopher Columbus celebrate Boston's rich Italian-American immigrant history by honoring Italy's most famous explorer. So why is there a huge monument to Leif Erikson on Commonwealth Avenue? In 1887, Harvard Professor and philanthropist Eben Horsford commissioned this bronze statue from sculptor Anne Whitney. Horsford believed that Erikson founded his l

Unlike many American cities, Boston's celebration of Columbus Day is a major event. With big parades and brass bands, the city's tributes to Christopher Columbus celebrate Boston's rich Italian-American immigrant history by honoring Italy's most famous explorer. So why is there a huge monument to Leif Erikson on Commonwealth Avenue? In 1887, Harvard Professor and philanthropist Eben Horsford commissioned this bronze statue from sculptor Anne Whitney. Horsford believed that Erikson founded his l…