Queens Memory

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.

09/02/2026

All Queens Public Library locations will be closed for Weekend: Saturday, September 5; Sunday, September 6; and Monday, September 7.

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

Our digital media is always available 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=social&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=labordayclosing2026

🎧 "Memories of Water" season finale premieres TODAY!In “Postcard Memories,” we travel back to New York summers before ai...
09/02/2026

🎧 "Memories of Water" season finale premieres TODAY!

In “Postcard Memories,” we travel back to New York summers before air conditioning, pairing newspaper coverage of historic heat waves with intimate messages preserved on early 20th-century postcards. Together, they reveal how New Yorkers escaped the heat as well as the places, people, and traditions that made summer memorable.

Then, on Thursday, September 3, from 4 to 7pm celebrate with us at Rockaway Film Festival! Visit our pop-up at the Arverne Cinema courtyard to explore vintage postcards and share your own memories of summers past.

🎙️ Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: https://buff.ly/10P2XUy

Made in collaboration with Queens Public Library , Melting Metropolis, and our listeners and supporters from around the world who volunteered to read the postcards!

All postcards are from the personal collection of James Supple and can be found on the Digital Archives website.

08/31/2026

Before air conditioning, how did New Yorkers survive the summer heat?

In this Season 4 Finale, "Postcard Memories" travels back to the deadly heat waves of 1896, 1911, and 1936 — pairing newspaper headlines with handwritten postcards from Queens Public Library digital archives.

Written in English, German, and Czech, these century-old messages reveal beach excursions, family traditions, and the everyday ways New Yorkers sought relief from the heat.

🎧 Full episode premieres September 2 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you listen.

Many thanks to our postcard readers, including the five featured here. Produced and edited by J. Faye Yuan and Rebecca Seidel with support from the Melting Metropolis and Queens Memory teams.

Happy National Dog Day and Women’s Equality Day! 🐶✨ To celebrate, we’re sharing a few photos from the featuring Queens...
08/26/2026

Happy National Dog Day and Women’s Equality Day! 🐶✨ To celebrate, we’re sharing a few photos from the featuring Queens women and their beloved dogs over the decades:

1) 1984: Ms. James at her home in St. Albans, Queens, with her dog, Blue.
2) ca. 1890: A young girl and her dog in Long Beach, NY, photo by James H. Work.
3) ca. 1962: Hilda with the family dog, Pierre, in Parkway Village, Queens (donated by Laurie Greenwald).
4) August 2005: Irene Hirshon and her dog, Spot, on the warning track at Shea Stadium during the New York Mets' "Snausages Dog Day in the Park."

These photos of Gantry Plaza State Park capture the moment Long Island City began transforming from an industrial hub in...
08/20/2026

These photos of Gantry Plaza State Park capture the moment Long Island City began transforming from an industrial hub into today’s skyscraper skyline.

The CityLights building was LIC’s very first luxury high-rise. The first photo, taken on August 19, 2001, shows the lone building a few years after completion (with the former Citi building in the background). The second photo was taken during construction in the late 1990s.

📸 Photographs by Anders Goldfarb

to 1922 at the southwest corner of Fresh Pond Rd. and Catalpa Ave. in Ridgewood!Built in 1848, the historic John C. De...
08/13/2026

to 1922 at the southwest corner of Fresh Pond Rd. and Catalpa Ave. in Ridgewood!

Built in 1848, the historic John C. Debevoise House stayed in the family until 1906. It was bought by the Ridgewood Knights of Columbus in 1915 before becoming the home of the Third District Municipal Court in 1922 (pictured). Notice the court addition on the left and rear of the house—holding cells were even constructed in the cellar!

The structure was demolished in 1974 for the Peter Cardella Senior Center, which still stands there today. Across Catalpa Ave. to the right, you can see PS 88, a neighborhood landmark that's still around.



Post by Ailbhe McDonnell, Citi + QPL Fellow, Spring 2026

08/10/2026

This month's Oral History Feature follows Katherine Markarian Askinazi as she reflects on growing up in Sunnyside and Hollis Hills during the 1950s through the 80s. The daughter of Soviet immigrants who rebuilt their lives in Queens after World War II, Katherine remembers neighborhood shops near her family's apartment building, frequently visiting her local library, and recreational activities in Alley Pond Park and Cunningham Park.

In this preview, Katherine shares her hopes for Queens in the future.

Many thanks to Fran Kipnis for conducting the interview.

Listen to Katherine's interview here: https://buff.ly/iqte4J2

Our walking tour series with Urban Archive and Queens Public Library comes to a close in Newtown, one of Queens' oldes...
08/06/2026

Our walking tour series with Urban Archive and Queens Public Library comes to a close in Newtown, one of Queens' oldest European settlements and a place where the Revolutionary era left a lasting mark.

From New York City's oldest continuously occupied home to one of Queens' oldest churches, the birthplace of the Newtown Pippin apple, and the enduring mystery of the HMS Hussar, these sites reveal the remarkable history hidden in places many of us pass through every day.

Explore all 13 stops of this virtual walking tour on Urban Archive: https://buff.ly/eq92PlL

Many thanks to Lori Wallach for researching and curating!

What will future summers look like? ☀️🎨Join Queens Memory and Citation Needed Press for "Future Summers: Posters for Cli...
08/05/2026

What will future summers look like? ☀️🎨

Join Queens Memory and Citation Needed Press for "Future Summers: Posters for Climate Advocacy," a free, all-ages drop-in workshop where we'll use collage materials, printed images, and slogans from the Melting Metropolis Archive to create posters imagining a more just, climate-resilient future.

Together, we'll explore how artists and organizers have responded to environmental challenges in the past — and create new visions for the summers yet to come.

📅 Friday, August 15
🕚 11 to 1pm
📍 The World's Borough Bookshop, Jackson Heights

No experience is needed, and all materials will be provided.

08/04/2026

Join our partners for the August Community Archiving Happy Hour, a monthly virtual gathering for anyone working in, or curious about, community archiving!

This month, we're excited to welcome Morgan Davis Gieringer, Head of Special Collections at the University of North Texas. Morgan has developed partnerships that extend the collecting capabilities of the institution, while helping to meet the needs of traditional under-documented communities. This presentation will describe partnerships with The Dallas Way, an LGBTQ History Project, and The National Juneteenth Museum.

Whether you're an archivist, librarian, artist, oral historian, community organizer, or simply interested in preserving local history, this is a space to exchange ideas, ask questions, and connect with others doing this work!

📅 Tuesday, August 11
🕐 1pm ET

Join the Community Archiving Happy Hour Google Group to receive the meeting link: https://buff.ly/JQSBxss

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89-11 Merrick Boulevard
New York, NY
11432

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