Chicago's #Columbus Drive & the statue in Grant Park glorify a wretched historical figure & are directly connected to facism. A short thread... #TakeThemDown @chicagosmayor

After coming to power, Mussolini invested heavily in cultivating a positive image in the US - film reels, press junkets, celebrity visits to Rome. It made Il Duce a widely popular & revered figure in the US into the 1930s. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/02/28/when-americans-loved-benito-mussolini/

Here's 1920s American movie stars Douglas Fairbanks & Mary Pickford giving the fascist salute: at left, them in Rome features in the Italian press, at right, them with friends featured in Motion Picture Magazine. https://content.ucpress.edu/title/9780520301368/9780520301368_intro.pdf

In the run-up to the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago, organizers worked extensively with the Italian regime to solicit a large exhibition & Mussolini was eager to take full advantage. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/u2UNe2gpkksC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA134&dq=mayor+kelly+chicago+mussolini

The Italians build a huge modernist exhibit hall in the shape of an airplane, a symbol that the regime adopted to demonstrate their military & technological prowess. The Italians also sent so many exhibits, the overflow had to be hosted in other fair halls.

Their biggest splash was sending Italo Balbo & his squadron across the Atlantic to land on Lake Michigan. The stunt drew 40,000+ on July 15, & Balbo's speech hailed American-Italian friendship. The local press called Balbo "the Christopher Columbus of the 20th Century."

Mussolini sent an ancient Roman pillar to Chicago to celebrate the event. It was erected in front of the Italian exhibit hall & left up after the Fair came down. In 1934, Mayor Kelly dedicated 7th Street, running right by the pillar, as Balbo Dr. https://lakefronthistorian.com/2017/08/23/fascists-at-the-fair-a-deep-dive-into-chicagos-balbo-monuments-ready-to-publish/

The Balbo monument is prototypical Italian fascist aesthetic - connecting fascist Italy to classical Rome to argue Italy's central role in European civilization.

Anyway, a couple weeks after Balbo's big arrival - August 3 - was Italian Day at the Fair. For this, the Grant Park Statue of Columbus was dedicated & Inner Drive was renamed Columbus Drive. Mussolini addressed the crowd by radio & the Italian ambassador cut a ribbon.

The Columbus reference does similar aesthetic work as the Balbo monument: it positions an Italian as the hero of civilization's spread to the Americas. It unambiguously argues that Italians were the progenitors of settler colonialism. You might even see a fascist salute in there.

The Columbus statue in Arriago Park is a little different. It was erected at the 1892 World's Fair, then mothballed for decades before going back up in Little Italy as part of the 1950s-60s wave of Columbus statues. These were more about mainstreaming #ItalianAmericans as White.

In any case, all this junk needs to come down. Take down the statues & the Balbo Monument, put them in a museum with context & interpretation. And ask @aicchicago to lead a process to rename Columbus Drive. (Maybe this thread wasn't so short...) #TakeThemDown

If you made it this far & want to take action, donate to the @BSAllianceChi to save lives. Then call your Alderperson & tell’em to take down Columbus. Keep your priories in order. https://www.bravespacealliance.org/donate