There’s an ancient Roman column in Chicago hidden in plain sight near Soldier Field. It was a gift given by Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini during the 1933-1934 Chicago World’s Fair, commemorating a daring transatlantic flight to the fair by Italian Air Marshal Italo Balbo. In a time when controversial monuments get removed, why does this one still stand?

Written sources:

• “Italo Balbo: A Fascist Life” by Claudio Segré
• “Broken Icarus: The 1933 Chicago World's Fair, the Golden Age of Aviation, and the Rise of Fascism” by David Hanna
• “Genocide in Libya: Shar, a Hidden Colonial History” by Ali Abdullatif Ahmida
• “Italo Balbo's Flight to the 1933 Chicago World's Fair” by Don Fiore
• “The meaning of monuments : Remembering Italo Balbo in Italy and the United States” by Nick Carter
• “Italian Colonialism” edited by Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Mia Fuller