In this episode of Someone Lived Here, Kendra Gaylord visits to the Lewis Latimer House in Queens, NY. Lewis Latimer was an inventor and electrical pioneer who shaped the history of objects we still use every day. He was African American, the son of escaped slaves, and also an artist and poet. [Read more…] about Someone Lived Here: Lewis Latimer House in Queens
Queens
Lindsay’s Snowstorm: A Rising Star Falls to Earth in Queens
Fifty years ago this month, John Vliet Lindsay, 103rd mayor of New York and national paragon of urban progressivism, faced ruin in Rego Park.
The worst winter storm in in almost two decades hit on Sunday, February 9, 1969, dumping 15 inches in Central Park and 20 inches out at Kennedy Airport in Queens and resulting in the deaths of 42 people. Seventy-two hours later, much of the city was dug out and businesses and schools were slowly getting back to normal.
Except in Queens. [Read more…] about Lindsay’s Snowstorm: A Rising Star Falls to Earth in Queens
Historic Buildings: Far Rockaway Fire House, Police Station
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has recently designated two historic buildings in Far Rockaway, Queens as individual landmarks: the Firehouse, Engine Companies 264 & 328/Hook and Ladder 134 at 16-15 Central Avenue, and the 53rd (now 101st) Precinct Police Station at 16-12 Mott Avenue.
These buildings are outstanding examples of early-20th century civic buildings and represent a period of significant growth in Far Rockaway. [Read more…] about Historic Buildings: Far Rockaway Fire House, Police Station
Queens: Lecture, Tour of Vander-Ende – Onderdonk House
A tour of the Vander-Ende – Onderdonk House and a lecture by archeologist and historic preservation specialist Alyssa Loorya, President of Chrysalis Archeology, has been set for Thursday, May 10, 2018 from 5 to 7 pm. [Read more…] about Queens: Lecture, Tour of Vander-Ende – Onderdonk House
NYC Triboro Hospital: Photographs and Impressions
The Roosevelt Island Historical Society will host a free lecture by Charles Giraudet, entitled Triboro Hospital: Photographs and Impressions on Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 6:30 pm at the New York Public Library Branch on Roosevelt Island.
Triboro Hospital, located in Jamaica, Queens, was built to specialize in the treatment of tuberculosis. The facility, which was designed in 1937 and opened in 1941, was constructed during the same era as Welfare (now Roosevelt) Island’s Goldwater Hospital. [Read more…] about NYC Triboro Hospital: Photographs and Impressions
History and Commerce in the Old and New Netherlands
The Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce (GFCC) and the Queens Historical Society (QHS) are co-hosting a presentation at the Queens Historical Society in Flushing, on Wednesday, January 25th, at 7 pm, “History and Commerce in the Old and the New Netherlands” by Dr. Jack Eichenbaum. [Read more…] about History and Commerce in the Old and New Netherlands
Paul Simon Biographer Peter Ames Carlin
This week on The Historians Podcast, Peter Ames Carlin, author of Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon. (Henry Holt, 2016) Born in New Jersey, Simon grew up in Queens, New York. Carlin sees Simon’s upbringing in the context of the Jewish immigrant experience in America. You can listen to the podcast here. [Read more…] about Paul Simon Biographer Peter Ames Carlin
‘No One Helped’: The Myth of Urban Apathy
Marcia M. Gallo takes a look at one of America’s most infamous crime stories, in No One Helped (2015 Cornell University). This new book examines the 1964 rape and murder of Catherine “Kitty” Genovese, in a middle-class neighborhood of Queens.
Front-page reports in the New York Times incorrectly identified thirty-eight indifferent witnesses to the crime, fueling fears of apathy and urban decay. Genovese’s life, including her lesbian relationship, was also obscured in media accounts of the crime.
Fifty years later, the story of Kitty Genovese continues to circulate in popular culture. Although it is now known that there were far fewer witnesses to the crime than was reported in 1964, the moral of the story continues to be urban apathy. No One Helped traces the Genovese story’s development and resilience while challenging the myth it created. [Read more…] about ‘No One Helped’: The Myth of Urban Apathy
Modern Ruin: A World’s Fair Pavilion
A film screening of “Modern Ruin: A World’s Fair Pavilion,” Matthew Silva’s documentary about an abandoned structure designed by modernist icon Philip Johnson for the 1964 World’s Fair.The film tells the story of the Pavilion from the glory days of the fair, through the years of neglect, up to present day advocacy.
The filmmakers hope this project will be the first step in engaging and informing people about the building in new and exciting ways. This whimsical, futuristic, and soaring structure, constructed for the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, has been left abandoned for the greater part of 50 years. [Read more…] about Modern Ruin: A World’s Fair Pavilion
New York City 1964: A Cultural History
Lawrence R. Samuel’s New York City 1964: A Cultural History (McFarland, 2014), connects the events of a single year in the city to the cultural threads of American life in the 1960s and beyond.
Five seminal events occurred in New York City in the pivotal year 1964: the “British Invasion” arrival of the Beatles in February; the murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens in March; the World’s Fair in Queens between April and October; the “race riots” in Brooklyn and Harlem in July; and the World Series in the Bronx between the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals. [Read more…] about New York City 1964: A Cultural History