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Officials at San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday, Oct. 9, revealed in broad strokes how Terminal 1 will be renovated to reflect its renaming for civil rights leader Harvey Milk.

And they want the community to fill in the blanks.

Along with changing signs to reflect the new name, Terminal 1: The Harvey B. Milk Terminal, organizers are asking people to submit the images for the temporary and long-term historical displays about Milk and his contribution to the city and LGBTQ rights.

“The designs unveiled today will serve as a fitting tribute to the life and legacy of this pioneering civil rights leader,” airport director Ivar C. Satero said in a statement, “and we are excited to engage our entire community in submitting image content to help tell his story to travelers from around the world.”

The Board of Supervisors in April unanimously approved an ordinance to name Terminal 1 after Milk, the city’s first openly gay supervisor and the first openly gay man to be elected to the governing board of a major city in the United States. He and Mayor George Moscone were fatally shot by a former supervisor, Dan White, in City Hall in 1978.

Designers will choose 160 photos to be part of the temporary displays while Terminal 1 is under renovation, from which 40 photos will be chosen to be part of the long-term display at the airport. The terminal is scheduled to open in phases starting in July 2019, with the full opening by the end of 2022.

“Harvey Milk represented so much for the gay community. The story of his life and of course of his death are really just in our DNA,” said Terry Beswick, executive director of the GLBT Historical Society. “So for this terminal to be one of the first impressions that visitors get of San Francisco is amazingly significant for us.”

Beswick also said that calling on the community for historical images for the displays is very much in line with Milk’s philosophy of calling on people to contribute and of finding ways to bring different communities together.

Plans unveiled on Tuesday, Oct. 9, call for labeling the terminal exterior and transition areas with the new full name, as well as mounting a plaque explaining the honor. There will also be a large alcove on the departures level that will act as an exhibit space for detailing Milk’s life and work in photos and text. Airport officials want original photographs, slides or photographic negatives dating from 1930 to 1980 and will be taking submissions through Dec. 14 (details at www.flysfo.com/harveymilkexhibition).

Among the most important messages is that an LGBTQ leader can be honored in this way, said Beswick, with his name on one of the most visible, most visited landmarks in any city — something nearly unthinkable even 20 to 30 years ago.

“To see this kind of commemoration is extremely important, especially to young people,” he said. “It’s a sign of progress and an overdue honor.”

Spud Hilton is a San Francisco Chronicle travel editor. Email: shilton@sfchronicle.com. Twitter and Instagram: @SpudHilton