July 23rd, 2017: Columbia

[xoxoxoBruce]

From the 1800s and to the early 1900s it was popular for countries to have a female personification of itself. These personifications were often based off of the Greek Goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom. The most popularly used goddess personifications were Britannia (Britain), Germania (Germany), Marianne (France), and the forgotten Columbia (America).

Columbia became a very important figure during the American Civil War, a time when the country was in fear of splitting apart. Comic artists often used Columbia to illustrate the plight of the American people and to critique the government. Columbia’s role during this time was to serve as a motherly figure and to remind Americans of their roots and promise to be a country free for all.

The most well known comic artist of this time was none other than Thomas Nast. As a comic artist he often used other well known personifications in his work such as Uncle Sam, Tammany Tiger and Justice, but Columbia was his favorite personification to use. For Thomas Nast, Columbia was the representation of what America should be and served to be a powerful figure to be trifled with if injustice was at play.

By the 1890s and early 1900s, Columbia was more popular than ever with women even dressing up as the American goddess for patriotic events. Dressing up as Columbia was so popular that there were even whole articles written on how a Columbia should dress and behave. An example of one of these stories can be found in a 1900 July issue of The San Francisco Call.

Traces of Columbia still exist in everyday pop culture. Many companies used Columbia in their name and utilized her in their logos, see Columbia Records and Columbia Pictures. The critically acclaimed dystopian video game, BioShock Infinite named the main location of the game after Columbia and images of her can be found all over.

It must also be noted that perhaps Columbia never truly left, she just simply transformed into something else to better fit the times. The comic icon, Wonder Woman very much seems to take inspiration from the forgotten goddess. Just like Columbia, she fights for justice and strives to inspire mankind to live up to their best potential.

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