A sing-along version with John Erwin's lyrics for teaching early 20th century US primary school pupils about Columbus' voyages to the western hemisphere -- primarily extolling his maritime achievements -- is available at: www.soundslice.com/slices/p3nyc/.

For midi, musicxml, braille, a piano-only version, a scan of the original musical document, and additional information, visit the Internet Archive at: archive.org/details/140folksongsrote00unse.161.omr.

"Columbus Day" is item number 137 in "140 Folk-Songs for Grades I, II and III, Volume 7" (1922) . We scanned the page and extracted the music using OMR and output the result as musicxml. We divided the musicxml file into several MIDI tracks and produced it to evoke Italian maritime folk.

Many of the musical selections in "140 Folk Songs" celebrate holidays and seasons. In the US, Columbus Day commemorates the expedition's landfall in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. Because Columbus was Italian, the holiday also has significance for Italian-Americans, a fact reinforced by the selection of this charming Italian folk-melody.

Due to a re-examination of the legacy of colonialism, the celebration of Columbus Day has declined in the US since the late 20th century. It's been partially supplanted by Indigenous People's Day.  In Latinoamérica the broader re-examination of colonialism has become linked to this anniversary -- for example in Venezuela it's now known as "Día de la Resistencia Indígena". Throughout the world, the effects of the "Columbian Exchange" continue to be the subject of lively debate. It's a sensitive subject and our small contribution to this discussion is intended only to provide a look back at how US school children learned about these momentous events more than a century ago.

Produced by @MLucas. 

Image based on "Spanish Caravel Santa Maria" by Edward H. Hart, Detroit Publishing Co., (1907), Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016806376/.

Public Domain. No Rights Reserved.

Columbus Day

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New tracks tagged #columbian exchange