GARY, Ind. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Columbus Day will be a thing of the past for one Indiana city.
The city of Gary, Indiana will be replacing Columbus Day with a holiday representing the late former Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher.
CBS 2 reported the Gary Common Council voted 8-1 Wednesday in favor of the move.
Hatcher was one of the first African American mayors of a large, U.S. city. He first took office in 1968 and served as mayor for 20 years. Richard Gordon Hatcher died on Dec. 13, 2019 at the age of 86.
Councilman Ronald Brewer was the one to vote against the move, saying Columbus Day had already been excluded from the city calendar – though it is still observed on the Indiana state. Brewer said the holiday celebrating Hatcher should be Hatcher’s birthday on July 10.
But Gary Common Council President William Godwin said it made the most sense to have a holiday honoring former Mayor Hatcher on a day when people are already off such as the second Monday in October.
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There have been numerous pushes around the country to replace Columbus Day, honoring the Italian explorer. Many have replaced the holiday with Indigenous People’s Day, to honor Native American culture and acknowledge the effects of European colonization on indigenous communities.