By Maddie Rhodes | Fox 31 News
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.”
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.