Contributed by Marilyn Bennett
Mom was not a Scandinavian, but since Dad was Norwegian she thought that now that I was eight and my brother Dick was ten, we should learn something of our heritage. The year was 1949 and the governor was going to unveil a bronze statue of Leif Erikson at the capital in St Paul.
We felt it was about time, as there had been a statue of Christopher Columbus at the capital since Columbus Day Oct. 12, 1931. In 1949 St. Paul was made up somewhat equally of Italians and Scandinavians, so it did seem right that we should have a statue and a holiday also. I was tasked with helping 5-year-old Billy on with his snow pants while Mom got 2-year-old Stevie ready to go. Meanwhile Dick went upstairs to get a quilt to put in the wagon as we knew both Billy and Stevie would be tired of walking by the time we headed for home.
We walked the three blocks to Rice Street where we took the street car that day because it was chilly out and we knew it would be a long day. The conductor on the street car was very nice to Mom and helped her get the wagon into the street car. We arrived at the capital twenty minutes early which was a good thing as we all had to go to the bathroom. (That was back when ordinary people could walk into the capital building, not go through a scanner and go straight to the bathroom.)
There were a lot of important people at the unveiling of the statue so we couldn't get very close until the speeches were over. But once all the guys were finished talking, we got close to the statue and Mom told us of how proud we should be of our Norwegian heritage. The statue was pretty impressive. The inscription on the statue said: LEIF ERIKSON discoverer of America 1000 a.d. - authors note: (very questionable history) erected through popular subscription sponsored by the Minnesota Leif Erikson Monument Association Inc. presented to the state of Minnesota during its territorial centennial October 9, 1949 designed & executed by John Karl Daniels (A Norwegian-American Sculptor).
I was glad we got to see the unveiling, but we were getting pretty cold and Stevie was starting to cry. He never really acted like a tough Norwegian. Dick was running around with some older boys, they all had sticks and were pretending to be Vikings having sword fights with the Swedes. All in all it was an interesting day.
Fast forward to June 10, 2020 my hometown of St Paul, MN. Protesters pull down the statue of Christopher Columbus. They put a rope around the 10 ft bronze statue and pulled it off its stone pedestal and then celebrated with singing and drumming. The State Patrol troopers stood by at a distance but did not try to stop the vandals. When the deed was done the troopers formed a line to protect the toppled statue and no one was arrested or charged for this crime. I have always felt that being a nation of laws was what kept us free from chaos. Being able to ignore laws with impunity and not be punished is the sure road to unpleasant consequences.
The Italians during the depression raised enough money to have an Italian-American immigrant artist by the name of Carlo Brioschi create the statue of Columbus. It was a gift from the Italian Americans of Minnesota to the city of St Paul. This statue was dedicated in front of a crowd of proud Italians and other citizens in 1931. I was told that many Italians fasted one day a week for several months to be able to have the extra money to donate to build this statue. To have the rich entitled and feeling oppressed citizens of 2020 tear it down is such a sad commentary on where our country is today. This is not a good time in America as there seems to be an ongoing effort to rewrite history. Just because our founders and explorers were not perfect people is no reason to destroy our history and tear down works of art. I may be old fashioned, but really feel that if someone is unhappy about how a statue is represented, he/she is free to petition to have it removed or have a plaque installed to correct any historical errors or problems with the inscription on the statue.
It has been a long time since I have thought of Americans as Italian-Americans or Norwegian-Americans. That is why I have a hard time with the current way of breaking Americans into hyphenated Americans. I much preferred the Melting Pot rather than this divisive Multiculturalism. Be that as it may, it would be nice to get back to respecting each other whatever our color, creed or sexual orientation and be able to speak freely without fear of being un-platformed or heaven forbid losing our jobs.
Just some food for thought.
