What is St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Day? A look into the history behind the holiday
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - If you walked into a government building Monday, October 2, you would have been met with signs saying they're closed due to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Day.
While the holiday has been around for a couple of years, many still don't know the history behind it.
The legal holiday, Cabrini Day, was created to replace Columbus Day (the second Monday in October).
House Bill 20-1031 created the new holiday and was passed by the legislature on March 10, 2020, and signed into law by Governor Polis just 10 days later. Cabrini Day is the first state-paid holiday to recognize a woman in the nation.
"She came to America in the early 1900s to help ease suffering and help her community here in Colorado. She was asked here to Denver to start helping to found orphanages and care centers and to bring healing and help to Coloradans," said Dianne Archuleta, the director of the El Pueblo History Museum.
Archuleta said Colorado is one of many states moving away from honoring Christopher Columbus.
"We're trying to move away from exalting him as opposed to actually reading the history books and finding out what his impact was on the lives of Native Americans in the United States. And it wasn't helping people or others. It was more along the lines of genocide and enslavement and some of the first human trafficking that we saw happening on this continent was thanks to him," said Archuleta.
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Despite the change, some people in Pueblo plan to celebrate Columbus Day. Order of the Sons of Italy told KRDO that they're still going to celebrate him next week at his monument on Abriendo Ave. in Pueblo.
