The memorial was part of the Scandinavian American community’s efforts to credit their ancestors not Christopher Columbus with the “discovery” of the Americas.
The decision to remove a classic 19th-century painting of Viking voyages as romanticization of colonialism was slammed as ahistoric, frightening and tantamount to censorship.
In October of 1949, the Leif Erikson Memorial was unveiled on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol. The memorial was part of the Scandinavian American community’s efforts to credit