What's Open, Closed In Beverly On Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day

BEVERLY, MA — A long weekend for many in Beverly could bring a bit of rain and an extra day of respite from remote learning and video work meetings.

It also brings to the forefront the debate over what to reflect on during the holiday — the Italian-American history of Columbus Day, the Native American heritage of Indigenous Peoples Day or both.

First, here's what's open and what's closed:

• Municipal, state, federal offices: Closed.
• Schools: Closed.
• Libraries: Closed.
• Banks: Closed.
• Mail: Post offices closed; express delivery only.
• Supermarkets: Open.
• Convenience stores: Open.
• Retail stores: Open at owner's discretion.
• Restaurants, bars: Open at owner's discretion.
• Package stores: Open at owner's discretion.
• Trash, recycling: Delayed one day.

The holiday in 2020 comes as the decades-long debate and controversy over Native American sports team names continues. Earlier this year, the NFL team in Washington, D.C., dropped their Redskins nickname and are now simply called the Washington Football Team. The Cleveland Indians are also considering changing their name for the first time since 1915, according to reports.

Columbus Day celebrations date back to the 18th century in some places, according to the History Channel, but did not become a federal holiday for celebration on the second Monday of October until 1971. The day continues to be listed by the federal government as Columbus Day. Indigenous
Peoples Day — seen by its promoters as a day of reckoning for centuries of systemic bias against native populations — is a more recent phenomenon.

South Dakota was the first state to recognize "Native Americans Day" in 1990,and the city of Berkeley, California, declared the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples Day in 1992. Hundreds of municipalities have followed during the past decade.

But it's complicated.

Italian-Americans who came to the United States from the late 1800s through the early 1900s were subject to vicious bigotry, discriminated against and treated violently, even lynched, for decades. Putting an Italian face on the hero of America's origin story gave them a real sense of cultural pride and a stake on being an American. Congress curtailed Italian immigration on racial grounds in the 1920s, even though Italians were legally white. In 1965, Italian-Americans campaigned to overturn racist restrictions using the Columbus icon to their advantage.

For many, especially those who are old enough to remember discrimination, that's what's at heart here.

"It's a hard sell to the Italian Community," said Corrie Popp, a cofounder of the Italian-Americans for Indigenous Peoples Day, which supported a push to remove a monument to Columbus in Boston's North End last year.

Popp, who is in her 40s and is a teacher in Newton, told Patch earlier she knows that this holiday has been important to normalizing the Italian community, but it's time for an adjustment.

"Can we decouple our awesomeness as Italian Americans with our association with Columbus?" she said.

Popp told Patch earlier that moves to remove monuments or change the holiday from Columbus to Indigenous Peoples Day is not so much about canceling Columbus, or the Italian Americans who are an important part of the country, but about being respectful to all people.

"Let's just not honor these people in public places where they make other people feel oppressed. It's not like you have to erase them," she said.

As of 2019, at least eight states, 10 universities and more than 130 cities observe Indigenous Peoples Day, according to a USA Today report. Several states, such as Louisiana and Wisconsin, made the change just last year.

(Patch Editor Jenna Fisher contributed to this report.)