Campaign to remove Stennis’ name

A campaign was kicked off June 24 to rename Stennis Space Center, Miss., led by Will Pomerantz, Virgin Orbit’s VP for Special Projects and co-founder of the Brooke Owens Fellowship that is dedicated to career advancement for women and other gender minorities in the aerospace profession. The campaign is in an effort to raise awareness of racial disparities. Stennis is named for former U.S. Sen. John C. Stennis (1901-1995), a known segregationist early in his career. NASA announced June 24 it is naming its HQ building after Mary Jackson, the first African-American woman engineer to work at the agency. In a long series of tweets, Pomerantz urged Stennis be renamed, perhaps in honor of Mae Jemison, the first African- American woman in space although other names popped up as well. Also, an effort is underway to rename the Navy’s U.S.S. John C. Stennis aircraft carrier. It and NASA’s Center were both named for Stennis by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. (Source: SpacePolicyOnline 06/24/20) The nationwide debate has also resurrected questions over why the Navy has a guided-missile cruiser named for the Battle of Chancellorsville, which the Confederacy won.https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/campaign-to-rename-stennis-space-center-kicks-off/