BLOOMINGTON - Most historians now say categorizing Christopher Columbus as either mythical hero or conscious evildoer does a disservice to the complex place he holds in world history. | Photo gallery

"In some sense he went from a hero to a villain," in the pendelum of public perception, said Matthew Pursell, who teaches early American history at Illinois Wesleyan University.

Nowadays, instead of a black or white view of Columbus most educators see the truth in grayscale.

Fifth-grade teachers Deb Weaver and Julie Hoffman took students on a field trip to Peoria last week to see a 60-foot replica of one of Columbus' ships. The visit was part of a larger explorer's unit at Trinity Lutheran Grade School that introduces the complexity of European exploration of the Americas.

The unit also looks at how a cultural icon like Columbus - immortalized for U.S. schoolchildren today, Columbus Day - is not so clearcut in historical interpretations, said Weaver.

"This is really the first time many of them have come across some of the negative ideas about Columbus," she said of the 25 children from Trinity.

That broad view wasn't always the norm. As the early U.S. government developed, people eager to find new heroes to replace English monarchs found refuge in Columbus and "discovery."

"But, he was lost. When he landed in the Caribbean, he thought he was in China," said Pursell.

In the early 19th century, writer Washington Irving's "The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus" boosted the myth. Truth was stretched for more interesting storytelling, with Irving depicting Columbus as a visionary who knew the earth wasn't flat.

"All the educated people of (Columbus') time already knew the world was round," said Linda Clemmons, a historian at Illinois State University who teaches about post-1492 life for American Indians.

Building an unclear icon

The iconic stature of the explorer continued; by 1893 the country saw the Columbian World Exposition, in 1937 President Roosevelt made Columbus Day a national holiday. Later, as the 1960s age of consciousness unfolded, American Indians began to vocally oppose the festive parades and U.S. history books' depictions, said Clemmons.

"I think what native Americans were saying at this time was not that Columbus was a villain, but rather that as a nation we shouldn't celebrate him as a hero," she said.

Indigenous groups and their allies continue to speak out. For example, more than 80 people were arrested Saturday during Denver's annual Columbus Day parade.

Supporters call Columbus a brave explorer who opened a new world. But protesters have called him a slave trader who touched off centuries of genocide and oppression against native peoples.

"In many places diseases like smallpox wiped out 90 percent of a village," said Clemmons.

"But no matter what people think of Christopher Columbus the man, he needs to be remembered for his significant role in world exploration" and the so-called Columbian exchange that followed, she said.

"It was a watershed moment," said Pursell. The exchange of plants, animals, cultures changed the way the world exists.

Part of the significance of 1492 and Columbus' journey is the triggering of long-term contact between cultures on opposite sides of the world, giving birth to globalization, said Clemmons.

Columbus' role in U.S. schools

Most U.S. children have today off from school, though October is usually when Columbus comes up. In general, primary grades stick to simple paper creations of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria ships. Most don't learn more than picture-book stories of the sailor, said Weaver.

In the context of world exploration, Columbus usually doesn't surface until fifth grade, when students gain some perspective on colliding cultures.

"We really start to talk about the idea that he didn't 'discover' the place - that Vikings came earlier. And that many Native Americans lived here already," Weaver said.

A teacher for 16 years, Weaver said in the last six or seven years Columbus teaching methods have become more encompassing. After the field trip, the Trinity fifth-graders wrote essays on whether they believe Columbus should be considered a hero.

"It is an exercise in varying viewpoints," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.