Queens Memory

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Queens Memory Queens Memory aims to record & preserve history in Queens - supported by QPL and Queens College.

Queens Memory is a collaborative effort between Queens Library and Queens College. It's a digital archive, but its public face is a website featuring interviews and photos documenting the lives of contemporary Queens residents. These stories and images are presented alongside digitized historical photographs, maps, news clippings and other rare archival records. People who live in Queens (or used to) can see images of how their communities have changed over the decades and hear the voices of neighbors telling stories that define life in this dynamic and diverse part of the world. Visitors to the Queens Memory website have the benefit of seeing these otherwise scattered archival materials and personal stories in one, searchable, user-friendly site of collective memory.

Welcome to another post! Looking for historic newspapers from Queens, Brooklyn, and Long Island? The Archives at Queen...
10/15/2026

Welcome to another post! Looking for historic newspapers from Queens, Brooklyn, and Long Island? The Archives at Queens Public Library has a large collection of them available on microfilm. 📰

1) The Archives has a Konica Minolta MS7000 microfilm machine to view the microfilm collection of historic newspapers, like this issue of The Long Island Farmer (April 18, 1833).🎞️

2) The Long Island Daily Press was founded in 1821 as the Long Island Farmer, based in Jamaica, Queens. While it covered national and global news, its primary focus was on Queens and Long Island. The newspaper's microfilm collection spans from 1821 to 1977, when publication ceased.



Post by Julia Zhu, Citi + QPL Fellow, Fall 2026

🎬 The First Amendment protects our right to assemble. The Listening Tour asks what happens when we do.Join Queens Memory...
10/14/2026

🎬 The First Amendment protects our right to assemble. The Listening Tour asks what happens when we do.

Join Queens Memory and Queens World Film Festival for a Queens World Table Lab™, part conversation, part creative experiment, and part community gathering!

Together with artists, community organizers, and creative thinkers, we’ll explore hope and resilience, imagine new possibilities for public art, and reflect on how our stories and memories can be preserved for future generations.

🗓️ Friday, November 13
⏰️ 11am
📍 Sac’s Place | 35-11 35th Ave, Astoria

💬 Join a table, share your perspective, and be part of the conversation!

🎟️ Free with RSVP: https://buff.ly/C6nvjCn

10/13/2026

🎙️October Featured Oral History: Ricardo Cortez

From playing backup guitar for The Coasters as a teenager to building a career in investment management, Queens College alumnus Ricardo Cortez reflects on his remarkable journey growing up in New York City.

In this interview with Rebecca Rushfield, Cortez shares memories of moving from Manhattan's Upper West Side to Bayside in the 1950s, balancing school with music gigs, and attending Queens College while married and working full-time at just 19 years old. He recalls the professors who supported him, the unexpected career path that led him to Wall Street, and the lasting impact of his Queens College education.

🎧 Listen to his story here: https://buff.ly/0GlzgzP

Queens College Alumni 🙏

The moody October 1918 issue of Queens Borough magazine is all about lighting up the city, as seen on the front cover an...
10/08/2026

The moody October 1918 issue of Queens Borough magazine is all about lighting up the city, as seen on the front cover and back page ad. Published by the Queens Chamber of Commerce, it promoted local business and industry during a period of rapid development.

10/06/2026

All Queens Public Library locations will be closed on Monday, Oct. 12 in observance of Italian Heritage Day & Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

Our Mobile Library, telephone reference, and Chat with a Librarian services will also be unavailable.

Our digital media is available 24/7 from anywhere with an Internet connection — enjoy eBooks, eAudiobooks, eMagazines, music, movies, and more.

https://queenslibrary.org/help/how-to-access-digital-media?utm_source=socialutm_medium=post&utm_campaign=italianheritageindigenouspeoplesdayclosing2026

We’re nominated for a Signal Awards in the Individual Episode category for Best Co-Host Team! Please vote for the Queens...
10/01/2026

We’re nominated for a Signal Awards in the Individual Episode category for Best Co-Host Team! Please vote for the Queens Public Library podcast:

Memories of Water Episode 4: "Live from Flushing: Flood Sensor Aunty" — https://buff.ly/6QbwguQ 🙏

Thank you and happy October! ❤️

October is Archives Month!Today, we’re spotlighting the vertical file collection at the 📰For decades, Queens Public Lib...
10/01/2026

October is Archives Month!
Today, we’re spotlighting the vertical file collection at the 📰

For decades, Queens Public Library archivists have saved daily newspaper clippings about Queens, Brooklyn, and Long Island. Organized by neighborhood and subject, new topics are added continuously in response to local news—making these files an invaluable starting point for NYC history research.



Post by Kit Moszynski, Citi + QPL Fellow 2025-2026

Join us for a deeper look at Flushing’s 19th-century history and the community-led effort to reclaim the Olde Towne of F...
09/29/2026

Join us for a deeper look at Flushing’s 19th-century history and the community-led effort to reclaim the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground.

Originally used for segregated African American, Native American, and “pauper” burials, the site was transformed into a park and playground in the 1930s. Decades later, local residents came together to form the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy working to uncover this long-hidden history and restore recognition to those buried there.

On Saturday, October 10, members of the Conservancy will be joined by Queens College CUNY faculty and Queens College Alumni to share their decade-long research and advocacy, which contributed to New York City’s formal recognition and investment in the Burial Ground as a place of mourning, memorial, and celebration of Black, Indigenous, and marginalized lives.

📅 Saturday, October 10
⏰️ 12pm
📍 Flushing Library, IRC Conference Room, Queens Public Library

Your best college essay starts with a story only YOU can tell. ✍️✨Join Queens-based writer Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons of No,...
09/28/2026

Your best college essay starts with a story only YOU can tell. ✍️✨

Join Queens-based writer Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons of No, You Tell It for "College Essay Jumpstart! Finding Your Story," a workshop designed to help high school students discover the personal stories that can make an essay memorable.

Students will mine their own experiences for vivid sensory details, experiment with attention-grabbing openings, and hear their writing read out loud by one another. Whether you already have a draft or have no idea where to begin, this workshop will help you find a way into your story.

Join us at 3 Queens Public Library locations this fall:

📍 Jackson Heights: Saturday, October 3, at 12pm
📍 Hunters Point: Thursday, October 29, at 5pm
📍 Forest Hills Part I with Forest Hills Asian Association - Thursday, November 12, at 5pm
📍 Forest Hills Part II with Forest Hills Asian Association - Saturday, November 14, at 1pm

Register here: https://buff.ly/dZOTm0T

Turn your memories into a mini memoir! ✂️📖In celebration of Cambria Heights Library’s 20th anniversary, join author-illu...
09/26/2026

Turn your memories into a mini memoir! ✂️📖

In celebration of Cambria Heights Library’s 20th anniversary, join author-illustrator and teaching artist Jonell Joshua for Make a Memoir!, a hands-on zine-making, collage, and storytelling workshop inspired by personal and community memories.

Jonell will share her approach to creating her illustrated memoir, How Do I Draw These Memories?, including excerpts about the library as a childhood safe haven. Then, using guided prompts, collage, photography, and art materials, participants will create their own mini-memoir zines rooted in the people, places, and experiences that have shaped them.

📸 You can print photos directly from your phone or digitize personal items like photographs, recipe cards, and letters. All other materials are provided.

📅 Saturday, October 3
⏰️ 1pm
📍 Cambria Heights Library Meeting Room, Queens Public Library

Address

89-11 Merrick Boulevard
New York, NY
11432

Telephone

+17187576469

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