Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month is celebrated by proclamation of the President and Congress in the United States to honor the achievements and contributions of Italian immigrants and their descendants living in the United States. It was first celebrated in 1989. The heritage month is in October to coincide with Columbus Day, the American national holiday traditionally celebrated on October 12, now celebrated on the second Monday in October. Heritage Months are usually proclaimed by nations to celebrate centuries of contributions by a group to a country. In tribute to all Italian Americans, the US
Columbus Day Day (in Hawaii, Discoverers' Day, in South Dakota, Native American Day). In the state of Oregon, Columbus Day is not an official holiday. Iowa and Nevada do not celebrate Columbus Day as an official holiday, but the states' respective governors are "authorized and requested" by statute to proclaim the day each year. Several states have removed the day as a paid holiday for state government workers, while still maintaining it—either as a day of recognition, or as a legal holiday for other purposes, including California and Texas. U.S. cities that officially eschew Columbus Day to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day, began