Depending on where in the United States you live and whom you work for, Columbus Day may be a day off with pay, another holiday entirely, or no different from any other Monday at Working on Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? It depends on where your job is.
Columbus Day, the second Monday in October, is one of the most inconsistently celebrated U.S. holidays. It’s one of 11 official federal holidays, which means federal workers get a paid day off and there’s no mail delivery. Because federal offices will be closed, so will most banks and the bond markets that trade in U.S. government debt. The stock markets will remain open, however, as will most retailers and other businesses.
Beyond that, Columbus Day seems to be fading as a widely observed holiday, having come under fire in recent decades from Native American advocates and others, who’ve argued that Christopher Columbus isn’t an appropriate person to celebrate at Working on Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? It depends on where your job is.
Only sixteen states and the territory of American Samoa continue to commemorate the second Monday in October as an official public holiday exclusively known as Columbus Day, according to our examination of state statutes, human resources websites, and other sources.”Official public holiday” usually refers to a day when state employees, with the exception of those in critical positions, receive a paid day off and government offices are closed. Although it goes by a different name, the day is recognized as an official public holiday in four states, two territories, and Washington, D.C. In addition to being Columbus Day, the U.S. Virgin Islands and four additional states observe another holiday on this day. Additionally, the second Monday in October in 26 states and the Guam territory is essentially the same as any other workday at Working on Indigenous Peoples’ Day or Columbus Day? Depending on where you work, yes.
Even two decades ago, before much of the recent reevaluation of the Italian explorer, only 25 states and the District of Columbia observed Columbus Day as a public holiday, according to the Council of State Governments’ comprehensive “Book of the States at Working on Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? It depends on where your job is.”
Since then, several states have moved away from Columbus Day. California and Delaware dropped the holiday entirely in 2009, the latter swapping in a floating holiday for state workers. Maine, New Mexico, Vermont and D.C. all renamed the day Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2019, while retaining it as an official holiday. (While the day is a legal holiday in Vermont, collective bargaining agreements allow state employees to use it as a floating holiday at Working on Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? It depends on where your job is.)
In Hawaii, the day is known as Discoverers’ Day, though it isn’t – and by law can’t be – an official state holiday. And Puerto Rico marks the second Monday in October as Día de la Raza (Descubrimiento de América), a celebration of Latin American peoples and cultures. (The commonwealth also commemorates Día del Descubrimiento de Puerto Rico on Nov. 19 to mark Columbus’ arrival in Puerto Rico at Working on Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? It depends on where your job is.)
Colorado – the first state to designate Columbus Day as a state holiday more than 100 years ago – replaced it in 2020 with a new state holiday (on the first Monday in October) honoring Frances Xavier Cabrini, a Catholic nun and Italian immigrant who founded dozens of schools, hospitals and orphanages to serve poor immigrants and was canonized a saint in 1946.
Since 1990, South Dakota has observed Native Americans’ Day as an official state holiday on the second Monday in October. Tennessee officially observes Columbus Day, but on a completely different day: The governor can (and routinely does) move the observance to the Friday after Thanksgiving, to facilitate a four-day weekend. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands began substituting Commonwealth Cultural Day for Columbus Day in 2006 at Working on Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? It depends on where your job is.
Even places with official Columbus Day holidays sometimes give them alternative monikers. Nebraska and Rhode Island, for instance, have designated the second Monday in October to be Indigenous Peoples’ Day as well as Columbus Day at Working on Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? It depends on where your job is.
The U.S. Virgin Islands formally observes Columbus Day but puts much more emphasis on Virgin Islands-Puerto Rico Friendship Day, which just happens to fall on the same day. In Alabama, the second Monday in October is simultaneously Columbus Day, American Indian Heritage Day (since 2000) and Fraternal Day, a day honoring Freemasons, Rotarians, Elks and other social and service clubs. Columbus Day doubles as Yorktown Victory Day in Virginia at Working on Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? It depends on where your job is.
Even Columbus, Ohio, no longer observes its namesake’s holiday, having renamed it Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2020. But Columbus, Georgia, has retained the day’s original name.
Originally conceived as a celebration of Italian American heritage, Columbus Day was first observed as a federal holiday in 1937, largely due to lobbying by the Knights of Columbus. The holiday was moved from Oct. 12 to the second Monday in October starting in 1971 at Working on Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? It depends on where your job is.
More recently, Native American groups and other critics have advocated for changing the holiday to something else, citing Columbus’ own mistreatment of natives and his legacy of European settlement. Several states (including Alaska, Iowa, Michigan and Oregon) and dozens of cities (including Seattle, San Antonio, Houston and Boston) have recognized Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead, though not always enshrined in law or as an official, permanent public holiday.
California, for example, is among the 26 states that don’t have an official public holiday on the second Monday in October. But in the past, it has designated the day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day by gubernatorial proclamation. California law also designates the fourth Friday in September as Native American Day, which state employees may take in lieu of their annual personal holiday at Working on Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? It depends on where your job is.
In Texas, the legislature in 2021 declared the second week of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Week. And in Oklahoma – a state with 39 recognized Native American tribes and where, according to the latest Census estimates, about one-in-seven residents identify as American Indian – state law directs the governor to proclaim an official day for every tribe in the state, on a date of each tribe’s choosing at Working on Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? It depends on where your job is.
