Down goes Andrew Jackson as Utah school changes name to honor NASA engineer instead

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the city’s school board voted this week to change the name of Jackson Elementary school from “Andrew” to “Mary W. Jackson.” 

The school's name now honors the first black female NASA engineer whose story was featured in the film “Hidden Figures.”

It is also the first Utah school to be named after a woman.

The Tribune reported that while changing the school’s name had been under consideration for years, the board did not move forward until it was determined that 73 percent of parents, alumni and other community members supported a change.

Jackson was portrayed by Janelle Monáe in the recent film Hidden Figures. For all of the tiki torch-waving assholes that are trying to rewrite history to not include the rebellion and loss of the Civil War, there are millions more trying to right our often omitted history, and that carries many more powerful emotions than just the seething fear and anger promoted by the white supremacist in chief.

On Tuesday night, Tiffany Sandberg, who represents Jackson Elementary’s district on the school board, choked back tears as she read a motion to rename Salt Lake City’s oldest elementary school Mary Jackson Elementary School.

It passed unanimously, to a standing ovation from parents, diversity advocates and other community members gathered at the meeting.

“We just thought it would be good to have a school that honored somebody I could tell my children to look up to,” said Neal Patwari, chair of the school’s community council.

Hooray!