DENVER ( KDVR ) — Four years ago, Colorado changed state law to replace the second Monday of October from formerly Columbus Day to Frances Xavier Cabrini Day . While this is now a holiday in Colorado, many people don’t get Monday off.
The holiday is based on Mother Cabrini, who moved from Italy to New York in the late 1880s. Cabrini was a “humanitarian champion of immigrants and children,” according to House Bill 20-1031 , “Replace Columbus Day With New State Holiday.”
Do you know about Mother Cabrini’s Colorado connections?
In the early 1900s, Cabrini moved to Colorado and opened the Queen of Heaven Orphanage for girls in north Denver. She also founded a summer camp for the Queen of Heaven orphans in Mount Vernon Canyon, known for the “ miracle of the mountains ,” where Cabrini was credited for finding water on the land.
The law signed in 2020 replaced Columbus Day with Cabrini Day, making it a legal holiday standing with other holidays like New Year’s Day, Christmas, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Labor Day and a few others.