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Photograph

Workers removing sign at SeaTac airport, March 1984

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In September 1983, shortly after the death of longtime US Senator for Washington Henry "Scoop" Jackson, the Port of Seattle commission decided to rename Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (or SeaTac for short) to Henry M. Jackson International Airport in his honor. Tacoma officials objected that the name change both insulted their city and violated the deal made when the airport first opened - that the airport would bear both Seattle and Tacoma's names in exchange for help from Tacoma to fund and operate it. The change was also largely unpopular with residents, with polls showing a 5 to 1 margin in favor of restoring the SeaTac name. In February 1984 after a public meeting in which the Port commissioners received sharp feedback from the community, the commission voted to restore the old name, less than six months after voting to change it.

In this image, Port of Seattle employees Marlin Meyer (left) and John Christensen replace the airport's entryway sign, restoring its original name.

Caption information source: "When Sea-Tac airport disappeared for six months," by Feliks Banel, My Northwest, retrieved from https://mynorthwest.com/3139553/all-over-the-map-sea-tac-airport-monument-to-end-of-inter-city-war/.
Names of employees from P-I caption on verso.
ID Number: 2000.107.005.05.02
Date: 1984
Creator(s): Werner-Jones, Jennifer, Photographer
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : b&w ; 10 x 8 in.
Credit: MOHAI, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, 2000.107.005.05.02, photo by Jennifer Werner-Jones
Copyright: All Rights Reserved