The celebration of Columbus Day next month could be Hartford’s last, as a community task force is taking shape to address growing concerns about memorializing the Italian explorer. Two city councilors had sought to rename Oct. 12 as Indigenous Peoples' Day, as Bridgeport, West Hartford and other U.S. cities have done in recent years in recognition of Christopher Columbus' brutality in colonizing the Americas and the Caribbean.

Instead, the Court of Common Council unanimously voted to send that suggestion to the new task force, which will meet over the next six-plus months to look holistically at all city memorials to Columbus — now deemed “unfit,” according to the resolution — and discuss how they should be changed.