The statue of Christopher Columbus in Schenley Park was one of the first mysteries of Pittsburgh for me when I started at Pitt. Why would there be a statue of him HERE? He was never anywhere near Pittsburgh!

I now know that there was an effort started in 1909 at the first celebration of Columbus Day to erect a monument to him in Pittsburgh, and that it took almost 50 years for the funds to be raised (pg 182). Most of the fundraising efforts were headed by the Sons of Columbus of America, an organization founded from combining 3 other organizations. It has chapters across the country but the headquarters remain in Pittsburgh.

The statue is bronze and is one of Frank Vittor’s many sculptures around Pittsburgh. Anthony Vittori, his brother, did the granite base. I think I actually like the base better– perhaps it’s because it’s easier to see! Columbus is too high. I love this sun on the back of the base.

The ship on Columbus’ right side has a pattern of one forward C and one backward C alternating on it, which I didn’t notice until I read about it at this site devoted to memorials to Columbus.

As you can see in this picture, it’s quite close to the University of Pittsburgh, but it’s not where the original permit applied to put it. Apparently they wanted it to be where Schenley Plaza is now, which was denied because it would interfere with the “grand entrance” to the park as a memorial to Mary Schenley. This is pretty funny since the grand entrance didn’t get completed until just a few years ago and was a parking lot for quite a while.

Poorly stitched together photos of the restoration plaque

The piece was restored in 1992 for the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ journey at a cost of $150,000. It was vandalized in 1997, just before 505th anniversary celebrations were held there, and painted red with the words “505 years of resistance” as a protest (allegedly) made by Native Americans against the idolization of Columbus. I’ve never really understood why he was so famous– he didn’t set foot on the continent, he wasn’t even the first to do so, and he didn’t get where he was trying to go in the first place!