In 2026, Queens Public Library is celebrating its 130-year anniversary! During Women’s History Month, Queens Public Library is partnering with the Queens Name Explorer project to honor the brave and brilliant women, with named places in Queens, who have built, shaped, and sustained us for 130 years! From advocates to volunteers, from librarians to gardeners, these women embody the imagination, leadership, and commitment to public service that has made QPL the vibrant and essential institution it is today.

Highlighting women from across Queens - from Long Island City to Jamaica - whose contributions reshaped their neighborhoods. These educators, activists, and public servants broke barriers to create systems of change. Their names mark more than physical places; they represent legacies of collective action. We invite you to explore these stories and consider how we choose which contributions to celebrate in our public spaces.

The Persia Campbell Dome, August 2022. The dome houses a lecture space for the Queens College community.

Dr. Thomas Anthony Dooley III (1927–1961) was an American physician and public figure renowned for his humanitarian work in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Born into a prominent Irish Catholic family in St. Louis, Missouri, Dooley served as a medical officer in the U.S. Navy from 1954 to 1955. His experiences during this time led him to write the best-selling books "Deliver Us from Evil" (1956), "The Edge of Tomorrow" (1958), and "The Night They Burned the Mountain" (1960). After leaving the Navy, Dooley established several hospitals in Southeast Asia and co-founded the Medical International Corporation (MEDICO), funded by his extensive public appearances and media work. Unfortunately, he succumbed to cancer in 1961 and was posthumously honored with a Congressional Gold Medal by President John F. Kennedy. Decades later, it was revealed that Dooley had ties to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and had embellished or fabricated certain aspects of his experiences in Southeast Asia.

Queens Public Library Connection Halvor A. James (1936-2018) served in the United States Army as a First Lieutenant and later worked 32 years for the City of New York Department of Social Services. He was also very active in the National Association of Social Workers; the Retirees of District 37 AFSCME; served as president of the St. Albans Civic Improvement Association; and was a member of the Friends of St. Albans Library, the United 199th Street Block Association, the Southeast Queens Crime Task Force, Jamaica NAACP, the Douglas/King, Elmer Blackurne and Guy R. Brewer Democratic Clubs, and president of the PTA at P.S. 95 in Queens. He was also first vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Alpha Phi Alpha Senior Citizen Center and an active member of the Hampton Alumni Association.

John Downing (1961-2001) was an 11-year veteran of the New York Fire Department, assigned to Ladder Company 163. He was one of three firefighters who died in the "Father’s Day Fire" in Astoria on June 17, 2001. Fifty others were injured. He was survived by his wife Anne and children Joanne and Michael. Downing had an extended family that ranged from Queens to Ireland. See the entry for Firefighters John Downing, Harry Ford and Brian Fahey Way.

Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968) was a lawyer and politician who served in the administration of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, as attorney general and a key presidential advisor from 1961 to 1963. In that time, Robert fought organized crime and was an instrumental supporter of the Civil Rights movement. He left the administration in 1964, the year following President Kennedy’s assassination. From 1965 to 1968, Robert represented New York in the U.S. Senate, where he continued to advocate for human rights and the economically disadvantaged, while opposing racial discrimination and the nation’s deepening involvement in the Vietnam War. On June 5, 1968, while campaigning in Los Angeles for the Democratic presidential nomination, Kennedy was shot several times by gunman Sirhan Sirhan. He died the following day at age 42. Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, Robert was the seventh of nine children born to businessman and financier Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose (Fitzgerald) Kennedy, the daughter of the mayor of Boston. After serving in the navy in World War II, Robert graduated from Harvard in 1948 and earned his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1951. In 1950, he married Ethel Skakel, and the couple had eleven children together. Following law school, Robert joined the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, leaving in 1952 to manage his brother John’s successful campaign for the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts. In 1953, Robert was an assistant counsel to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, headed by Joseph R. McCarthy, but left the position because of his opposition to unjust investigative tactics. In 1957, he began to help investigate corruption in trade unions as Chief Counsel for the Senate Rackets Committee, resigning in 1960 to help run his brother’s presidential campaign. Robert is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, adjacent to the gravesite of President Kennedy. Located on the campus of Queensborough Community College, Robert F. Kennedy Hall houses the Athletics Department and includes a fitness center, gymnasium, and near Olympic-sized aquatic center. Just months prior to his assassination, Senator Kennedy was invited to speak on campus and addressed a packed gymnasium on January 10, 1968. A dedication ceremony was held on May 18, 1969, at the building to name it in Kennedy’s honor. Other locations in Queens also named in recognition of his public service are Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (formerly the Triborough Bridge) and Robert F. Kennedy Community High School in Flushing.

William D. Modell (1921-2008) was born in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, and attended New York University. He succeeded his father in running Modell’s, the nation’s oldest family-owned sporting goods company, for 60 years. Under his leadership, Modell’s became a popular chain of sporting good stores selling athletic equipment and accessories. He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the Panama Canal Treaty negotiating committee and was also co-founder of the Jeffrey Modell Foundation for Immunological Research (his son Michael died of Crohn’s disease) and founder of Gilda’s Club in New York. He was inducted into the National Sporting Goods Hall of Fame by former President George H.W. Bush in 1994 and also became a member of the Discount Retail Hall of Fame.

Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson (1919-1972) will forever be remembered and honored as the first Black player in Major League Baseball. Born in Georgia, he was raised by a single mother along with his four siblings. His early success as a student athlete led him to UCLA, where he became the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports (baseball, football. basketball and track). After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in 1944 and was selected by Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey as a player who could start the integration of the white major leagues. Robinson was recognized not only for his baseball talents, but because he was thought to have had the right demeanor for the challenges he would ultimately face. Robinson made his National League debut on April 15, 1947, as Brooklyn's first baseman. In spite of the abuse of the crowds and some fellow baseball players, he endured and succeeded in the sport. He won the Rookie of the Year Award that year. Two years later, he was named the National League MVP, when he led the league with a .342 batting average, 37 steals and 124 RBI. A few select players, like Dodgers’ shortstop Pee Wee Reese, were particularly supportive of Robinson in spite of the taunting and jeers and helped him excel. In Robinson’s 10 seasons with the Dodgers, the team won six pennants and ultimately captured the 1955 World Series title. Robinson’s struggles and achievements paved the way for Black players in baseball and other sports. When he retired after the 1956 season, he left the game with a .313 batting average, 972 runs scored, 1,563 hits and 200 stolen bases. After baseball, Robinson operated a chain of restaurants and coffee shops but continued to advocate for social change, serving on the board of the NAACP. He died of a heart attack in 1972. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as its first Black player in 1962. On April 15, 1997, 50 years after his major league debut, his uniform number 42 was retired from all teams of Major League Baseball, a unique honor to this day. Ten years later in 2007, April 15 was declared to be Jackie Robinson Day. In Robinson's honor, all major league players, coaches and managers wear the number 42 on that day.

Murray Fox (1927-2015) served in the United States Navy and later was a long-time Sunnyside resident who was active in the Kiwanis Club of Sunnyside for over 20 years serving as president for a number of those years. He also served as the Kiwanis Club Lt. Governor of the Queens West Division. He also operated Fox’s Variety Store on the north side of Greenpoint Avenue and was very involved with charitable events throughout the community.

Stanley, Kathleen & Robert Rygor Way, is co-named in honor of a local Astoria family who were activists for LGBTQ rights. Stanley Rygor (1926 - 2019) Kathleen Rygor (1929 - 2021) and Robert Rygor (1953 - 1994) were all deeply involved in the LGBT community. Robert was a well-known LGBT community activist, prominent AIDS activist, and ACT UP spokesperson. In 1978, he became the first openly gay man to run for New York State Legislature. He was a member of Villagers Against Crime, advocating for safer neighborhoods, and in 1992, he testified at the Democratic Platform Committee Hearings to advocate for the inclusion of AIDS awareness and funding into their platform. Stanley, Robert’s father, served in the United States Navy and along with his wife Kathleen became a civil rights activist during the 1960’s, including hosting meetings for the Queens NAACP. The Queens LGBT community referred to the Rygors as outspoken allies and advocates for AIDS Outreach after their son contracted the virus and passed away. Stanley was a member of the Irish LGBT group Lavender and Green Alliance, which honored him and his wife Kathleen, in 1996. Stanley and Kathleen Rygor have been featured in several films regarding their son on the challenges of homophobia and AIDS.

Archie Spigner (1928 - 2020) was a local politician who served for 27 years as a City Councilman for District 27 in southeast Queens, from 1974 to 2001, serving his last 15 years as deputy to the majority leader. He also served as the head of the United Democratic Club of Queens from 1970 until his death in 2020, a role in which he helped shape the borough’s Democratic Party leadership. During his tenure, he advocated for education, infrastructure, and the underserved community. Archie Hugo Spigner was born on Aug. 27, 1928, in Orangeburg, S.C., his family moved to New York when Archie was 7, and he grew up in Harlem. As a young bus driver engaged in union activism, Mr. Spigner drew the attention of the labor leader A. Philip Randolph, who charged him with forming a Queens branch of Mr. Randolph’s Negro American Labor Council. While looking for a meeting place for his group, Mr. Spigner met Mr. Kenneth N. Browne, who was running for the State Assembly, and who became the borough’s first Black member of the New York State Assembly and its first Black State Supreme Court justice. Mr. Browne took Mr. Spigner to the local Democratic club and introduced him to the district leader Guy R. Brewer, and Spigner’s career in Queens politics began. Mr. Spigner went on to attend college, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Queens College in 1972. Spigner went on to become a major power house in an area that reliably voted Democratic, a nod from Mr. Spigner all but assured election. He was known as “The Dean,” and considered “The Godfather of Politics” in southeastern Queens.  As a local-minded city councilman, Mr. Spigner helped shepherd the sale of the oft-criticized Jamaica Water Supply Company, New York City’s last privately owned waterworks, to the city government in 1997, bringing down costs for residents of southeast Queens. To spur local business, he successfully pushed for the construction of a permanent building for York College, part of the City University of New York, in the Jamaica section; a subway extension to downtown Jamaica; and a regional headquarters of the Social Security Administration.

Ivan Mrakovcic (1963-2020) was an architect, historian, environmentalist and preservationist whose contributions enhanced the Richmond Hill neighborhood. His civic involvement earned him many leadership positions and stewardships and resulted in the establishment of the Historic District in North Richmond Hill on the New York State and National Historic registers in March 2019. He was the founder and president of the Richmond Hill Historical Society, served as treasurer of the Forest Park Trust and was a member of Queens Community Board 9 for 15 years, of which he served as chairperson from 2002 until 2007. He was a founding board member of the Friends of QueensWay park advocacy group and was also a Greenway Committee Member.

Dr. Paul Klapper (1885-1952) was the first president and guiding force behind the establishment of Queens College. Born in Romania, Klapper came to the U.S. with his parents as a child and enrolled at City College at the age of 14. After receiving his A.B. degree, he taught in the New York City public schools and at City College, eventually earning an M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University. He became head of the education department at City College in 1917, and served as dean of the college from 1922 to 1937, when he was asked to lead the newly created Queens College. Klapper personally selected the college’s first faculty, as well as the 400 students who enrolled in that first year. He led the college through its first decade, retiring in 1948. He then served as acting dean of teacher education for CUNY's five four-year colleges, and was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago from 1949 to 1951. He passed away in 1952 at the age of 66. Over the course of his career, Klapper also was a member of the board of trustees for The State University of New York, Brandeis University and The New York State Commission Against Discrimination. He received various honorary degrees from institutions including Yeshiva University, Columbia University and Queens College. His papers are housed in Queens College's Department of Special Collections and Archives. Klapper Hall was built and dedicated in 1955 as the Paul Klapper Library, and served as the college's main library until the larger Rosenthal Library was constructed in 1988. In 1992, the building was renovated and renamed Klapper Hall; it now houses the school's art and English departments as well as the Godwin-Ternbach Museum.

Queens Public Library Connection The Lefferts family was a prominent Dutch family in Brooklyn. The family's roots can be traced to the Dutch colonist Pieter Janse Hagewout, a farmer and shoemaker who emigrated from Holland with his family in 1660. Pieter died shortly thereafter, leaving his seventeen-year-old son, Leffert Pieterse (1650–1704), as head of the household. In 1687, Leffert purchased fifty-eight acres of land in Flatbush. By the time of his death in 1704, he had become one of the largest landowners in Kings County, amassing property across Kings and Queens Counties, Staten Island, and New Jersey. His children established distinct branches of the family: his son Peter Lefferts (1680–1774) inherited the homestead in Flatbush, while his son Jacobus Lefferts (1686–1768) settled on family land in Bedford Corners. The family went on to become influential in business and politics, with members founding banks and serving in Congress. This area in Queens was originally 200 acres of farmland owned by John Lefferts (1826–1893). In 1868, he sold the land to the developers of Richmond Hill for $59,944.80. The Lefferts Library opened in 1975.

Jeromus Remsen (1735-1790), a native of the area that is now Forest Hills, served during the French and Indian War of 1757. He became active in local politics and rose to the rank of colonel in the Kings and Queens County Militia, fighting in the Revolutionary War's Battle of Long Island. Jeromus Remsen's grandfather, Abraham, settled in the "Forest Hills" area, then known as Hempstead Swamp in the Town of Newtown. His son, Jeromus, lived on the family farm, and then had his son, also named Jeromus, who was born on November 22, 1735. Following his service in the French and Indian War, Remsen became part of the minority in Queens who opposed the King after the colonies declared independence. Active in Whig politics, Remsen appointed a committee to ensure that the measures of the Continental Congress of 1774 were followed within Newtown. His military experience and political stance made him a natural choice to lead a regiment of militia soldiers as a colonel. He gathered his regiment during the summer of 1776 as British troops amassed on Staten Island. He commanded the 7th New York Regiment, which were among those who joined the brigade of General Greene in Brooklyn, and who were routed at the Battle of Long Island. After their retreat, Remsen fled to New Jersey for safety, where he remained until after the war. Remsen died on June 22, 1790. His wife Anna, daughter of Cornelius Rapelje, whom he had married on April 31, 1768, lived until 1816. They are among a small handful of Remsen family members that were buried in their family plot, which still exists just a short distance from the school that has his name. The triangular-shaped Remsen Family Cemetery at Alderton Street and Trotting Course Lane became a New York City Landmark in 1981 and came under the care of the Parks Department in 2005, though not without local opposition, as residents felt the local American Legion had been taking adequate care of the space already for some time. For many years the Remsen Family Cemetery and Remsen himself were the central point of Memorial Day events in the area. Parades attended by thousands began at the cemetery, and Revolutionary War reenactments took place at nearby Forest Park. Interest in designating the school, which opened in 1931, to honor the local colonel of a regiment of Kings and Queens County Militia, came in the 1950s. Diane Petagine of American Legion Post 1424's Auxiliary is credited with efforts to rename P.S. 144 in Remsen's honor, which went into effect in 1956.

Nathaniel E. Schneider (1896–1969) was born and educated in New York City. During World War I, he served in France as a Sergeant Major of the 102nd Field Artillery. After the war, he worked variously as a magician, a set designer for the Ziegfeld Follies and other vaudeville acts, and a writer for radio. He belonged to several Democratic Clubs and held leadership positions in local civic groups, serving as president of the Elmhurst Allied Civic Associations, president of the Forest Hills Homeowners Association, and president of School Board 47. He was also a member of the Forest Hills and Kew Gardens Chamber of Commerce. Schneider was highly active in Veterans’ affairs. He held leading positions in two American Legion Posts, Maspeth Post No. 783 and Continental Post No. 1424. He edited post publications and was involved in American Legion affairs at the county level. In 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt invited Nat, his wife Dorothy, and their sons Bruce and Robert to attend the opening of the World’s Fair in recognition of Schneider’s contributions to the local community.

George J. Ryan (1872 – 1949) was the President of the Board of Education in Queens in the 1930s. In the 1940s, after his time as president, he advocated for a school in Fresh Meadows, a newly built community after World War II. Plans for the construction of this school were announced in 1952. In honor of his contribution, the school was named after him. Ryan was born and raised in Queens and spent his entire life there. Aside from his role as Board President, Ryan was very active in Democratic politics, and was also president of Long Island City Savings Bank and the Queens Chamber of Commerce.

Peter G. Van Alst (1828 – 1900) was a surveyor who helped to build the roads and infrastructure of western Queens. Van Alst was born in Dutch Kills on May 28, 1828, and was a member of the large extended Van Alst family, a prominent Dutch farming family who moved to the area in the early 1700s and resided there until the 1870s, when they spread out and moved elsewhere. Van Alst received his education at the District School and the Astoria Institute. He apprenticed as a surveyor for a few years, and worked independently until 1872, when the city legislature appointed him to serve as a commissioner, surveying and supervising the construction of several roads in Long Island City, Queens. In 1874, Van Alst and three fellow Long Island City citizens comprised the First Ward Improvement Commission, which was in charge of raising the grades of Jackson Avenue from Vernon Avenue to the courthouse from three to eight feet, which profoundly affected the daily life of the city. Van Alst’s job consisted primarily of constructing maps, which revealed detailed organizations of street lines, grades, and sewage lines of the Long Island City area.

Cornelius Van Wyck (1702-1769) was part of a third generation Dutch family who played an active part in the early settling of Central Queens. He was the eldest son of Johannes Van Wyck, whose father had emigrated from Holland in 1660. In 1735, Cornelius built a home on what was then the Van Wyck family’s 125-acre farm. Today, it is one of the last remaining eighteenth-century buildings in Queens and is considered among the best examples of the period’s Dutch Colonial-style architecture. Located on the shore of Little Neck Bay in Douglaston, the Cornelius Van Wyck House was designated a historic site by the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1966. Van Wyck married Mary Hicks, and together the couple had three sons — Stephen, Cornelius II, and Gilbert. Stephen and Cornelius II were delegates for Queens County to the Continental Congress. Their third son, Gilbert, remained a loyalist during the American Revolution. Their wood frame home was originally a three-room structure. Between 1735 and 1770, the home was expanded several times. The residence passed down to Van Wyck’s son, Stephen, and the family later sold the house to Wynant Van Zandt in 1819. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. \*Cornelius Van Wyck is likely Cornelius Johannes Van Wyck. Historical records also indicate the possibility of his death being in 1759 (see citations below).

Felicia Hamilton (1939 -2011) worked at Fiduciary Trust International in the World Trade Center. She was killed in the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.

Hortense Powdermaker was one of the original members of Queens College’s faculty. She was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Philadelphia, earned a B.A. in history from Goucher College in 1919 and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of London in 1928. The following year, she became the first woman anthropologist to live alone among the Melanesians of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea; she published her study of the experience, Life in Lesu, in 1933. For periods in 1932-1934, Powdermaker lived in Indianola, Mississippi, examining its Black and white communities and their interactions. Her book, After Freedom (1939), is still notable for its insightful analysis of race relations and of the impact of psychological adaptations to segregation. Powdermaker joined Queens College upon its opening in 1937 and founded the departments of anthropology and sociology. During her 30-year teaching career at Queens, she continued to conduct research and published highly influential books on racism (Probing Our Prejudices, 1944) and the social structure of the American filmmaking industry (Hollywood: The Dream Factory, 1950). Her final book, Stranger and Friend: The Way of an Anthropologist, was published in 1966 as a candid examination of her fieldwork experiences and the appropriate role of the anthropologist and social scientist. She retired from Queens College in 1968 and was undertaking a study of youth culture in Berkeley when she died in 1970. Powdermaker Hall was built in 1962 as the Social Science Building, sometimes called Academic I. In 1977, it was renamed to honor Powdermaker. The building is home to the college’s departments of anthropology and sociology, along with its School of Education. The Hortense Powdermaker Papers are housed in the college library’s Department of Special Collections and Archives.

Chester Floyd Carlson (1906–1968) was the Seattle-born physicist and attorney who revolutionized modern business by inventing the Xerox process. After earning a physics degree from Caltech in 1930 and a law degree from New York Law School in 1939, Carlson sought a way to copy documents without messy wet inks. In 1938, in his laboratory on the second floor of the house at 32-05 37th Street in Astoria, with partner Otto Kornei, he successfully created the world’s first xerographic image. This breakthrough led to the founding of the Xerox Corporation, whose researchers later pioneered essential computing tools like the mouse and the graphical user interface (GUI). In his later years, Carlson became a dedicated philanthropist, donating much of his wealth to civil rights, humanitarian efforts, and spiritual causes.

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George Upton Harvey (1881-1946) was Queens Borough President from 1928 to 1941. Born in County Galway, Ireland, the Harveys moved to Chicago when George was five years old. His father founded The International Confectioner, a trade paper, and after working there Harvey served as a correspondent and photographer for the Army and Navy journal. A captain during World War I, he commanded Company A of the 308th Infantry Regiment, 77th Division. In 1920, Harvey was appointed Assistant Director of the State Income Tax Bureau in Jamaica, New York.  Harvey began his career in electoral politics when he successfully ran for election to the Board of Aldermen in 1921 as a Republican from Queens and was re-elected in 1923. Though Harvey lost the 1925 election for President of the Board of Aldermen, a sewer scandal resulting in the ouster of Borough President Maurice Connolly vaulted Harvey into the Borough Presidency in a special election to complete Connolly’s term. Harvey was Queens’ first Republican Borough President since the 1898 consolidation of New York City. He was re-elected to this office in 1929, 1933, and 1937, serving until 1941.  Harvey was a bitter foe of the Tammany political machine at home and Communism abroad. In 1928, he initiated a major expansion of arterial highway and parkway improvements in Queens. He also played an active role in the World’s Fair at Flushing Meadow in 1939-40. In 1932 and again in 1938, he considered running for Governor but ultimately declined to do so. On April 6, 1946, Harvey died of a heart attack while helping to battle a brush fire near his home in New Milford, Connecticut. The park also contains George U. Harvey Memorial Playground.

Dayananda Saraswati (1824 - 1883) was an Indian philosopher, social leader, and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of Hinduism. He was an advocate of returning to the Vedas, the earliest scriptures of India, as the sole source of religious authority. Dayananda was born into a wealthy Brahmin family in Tankara, Gujarat. As a young man, he left home to searching for religious truth. He spent the next 15 years traveling throughout India, studying the Vedas and engaging in religious debates. In 1860, Dayananda founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay (now Mumbai). The Arya Samaj's mission was to reform Hinduism and to promote social progress. Dayananda's teachings are based on the principal that the Vedas are the authoritative source of religious and moral truth. He was a proponent of abandoning idolatry and superstition, the equality of all people regardless of caste or gender in the eyes of God, education as essential for both men and women, and the eradication of “untouchability” (caste) & child marriage. Dayananda traveled extensively throughout India, giving lectures and spreading his teachings. He also wrote several books, including the Satyarth Prakash, which is a comprehensive exposition of his religious and social views. He also practiced Hatha Yoga. Dayananda's teachings had a profound impact on Indian society. The Arya Samaj played a major role in the social and religious reform movements of the 19th century. Dayananda's ideas also inspired many of the leaders of the Indian independence movement. Many unsuccessful assassination attempts were made on Dayananda’s life, and he died under circumstances suggesting that he may have been poisoned. The street named in Dayananda’s honor is in front of Arya Samaj Gurukul, a gurukul is an education center where students study with their guru (teacher).

Harry Suna (1924-1992) was born in the Bronx. He worked for Todd Shipyard at age 17. After completing his apprenticeship, Suna joined the Central Sheet Metal Company and in 1946, at 22, became the company's secretary and treasurer. The next year, Suna established A. Suna & Company, which became a multimillion-dollar construction and sheet metal fabrication firm. He successfully developed more than 1,000 units of affordable housing throughout New York City. Suna visited the Silvercup building in December 1979 and purchased it for $2 million in 1980. His sons Stuart and Alan, who were architects, saw the potential for movie sound stages. Suna was chairman of Silvercup Studios, which he turned into New York City's leading film and TV production facility. He passed away suddenly just before his 68th birthday.

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) was born in Scotland and received higher education at the University of Edinburgh and the University of London. In 1871, he immigrated to Canada and then the U.S. in 1871. Bell’s research centered on speech and sound and the ways it can be manipulated to be more accessible. He was inspired by his mother who was deaf to create the first international phonetic alphabet. Bell’s experimentation of sound went way beyond the lab. He started to play with vibrations in hobbies and everyday life. He observed how his dog's barking patterns and pitch concerned the throat’s vibration. While practicing piano, he also discovered that you could mimic the chords of a piano in another room by the echo of it, leading him to realize they were being transmitted through the air. From this observation, he experimented with the ideas of waves and wires coming together to form an invention that could carry sound over differing distances. In 1876 this invention was patented as the telephone. Soon after, in 1876, Bell founded the Bell Company to distribute the communication device to the public. Although Bell was most famous for the telephone, a way to transport sound, he also participated in the invention of other transportation devices. He developed blueprints of airplanes, kites, and watercrafts. Bell's Silver Dart successfully flew a half mile in 1909 and his HD-4 was the fastest watercraft in the world. In 1888, Bell and his son-in-law invested their work into National Geography, an up-and-coming journal which bloomed into a well renowned science entity. P.S. 205Q Alexander Graham Bell School was established in 1954.

Thomas J. Travers (1897-1958), was a prominent Queens Democrat and Jackson Heights community leader. Born and raised in Manhattan, he attended St. Agnes Church and Parochial School and MacDowell Lyceum. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War I, he returned to New York to marry his childhood sweetheart, Ann Desmond. The couple settled in Jackson Heights, where Travers took an active part in the social and political life of the community. In addition to his involvement with St. Joan of Arc Church, the Catholic Youth Organization, and the Jackson Heights Sandlot Baseball League, he was an active member of the Jackson Heights Taxpayers Association and the Queens Chamber of Commerce. During World War II, he worked on three War Loans Committees and chaired the Jackson Heights Committee for the New York War Fund. He served as Democratic District Leader for Woodside-Jackson Heights from 1940 until his death in 1958.

Queens Public Library Connection Helen Marshall (1929-2017) was the first African American Queens Borough President from 2002 – 2013. Marshall was born in Manhattan to immigrant parents of African descent from Guyana. The family moved to Queens in 1949, settling first in Corona and then in East Elmhurst. Marshall graduated with a B.A. in education from Queens College. After teaching for eight years, she left to help found the Langston Hughes Library in 1969, where she was the first Director. She served as Director for five years, leading the library to become a vital resource on African American History in Queens. She later served in the State Assembly for 8 years and then served on the City Council for 10 years, before becoming the first African American and the second woman to serve as the Queens Borough President. She supported job training programs and economic development and was a devoted supporter of the Queens Public Library. In 2004-2005 she dedicated $27 million of discretionary funds toward library expansions and improvements, including new branches and the (now named) Helen Marshall Children's Library Discovery Center at the Central Library in Jamaica. The Helen M. Marshall School was founded in 2010 and moved to it's current building on Northern Boulevard between 110th and 111th streets in 2013. It serves students in Kindergarten through Grade 5. Other places in Queens named for Helen Marshall are: The Helen Marshall Playground, Helen M. Marshall Children’s Library Discover Center, and Helen Marshall Boulevard.

Vito Frank Maranzano (1923 - 2006), also known as “Uncle Vito, was a longtime Glendale resident and neighborhood activist. Born in Italy, Maranzano immigrated with his family to Bushwick, Brooklyn. He served in the Navy during World War II and moved to Glendale afterward. He was a member of multiple organizations in the neighborhood, including as president of Glendale Property Owners Association, Greater Ridgewood Restoration Corporation, and the Ridgewood Local Development Corporation. He was also active in the Kiwanis Group of Glendale, the Glendale/104th Precinct Civilian Observation Patrol (GCOP), UNICO International and had served as chairman of the Community Board 5 Public Safety Services Committee.

Rathaus Hall on the campus of Queens College, 2022.

Police Officer Gadell (1963-1986) had only served on the police force for 11 months before he was killed by gunfire in the alleyway on Seagirt Boulevard in Queens. We was just 22-years old. His death led to reforms to better equip NYPD officers.

Lorraine Hansberry (1930 – 1965) was a playwright, writer, and activist. Her play, “A Raisin in the Sun” (1959), was the first drama by an African American woman produced on Broadway. Hansberry was born in Chicago in 1930, the youngest of four children to a real estate entrepreneur and a schoolteacher. Her parents were members of the NAACP and the Urban League. She was the niece of Pan-Africanist scholar and college professor Leo Hansberry. In 1938 her family moved to a white neighborhood where they were attacked by neighbors. The Hansberry’s refused to move until a court ordered them to do so, and the case made it to the Supreme Court as Hansberry v. Lee, ruling restrictive covenants illegal. The case was the inspiration for her Broadway play, A Raisin in the Sun, which also became a movie starring Sidney Poitier. Hansberry attended the University of Wisconsin but left after two years and moved to New York to work as a writer and editor of Paul Robeson’s newspaper Freedom. She was a Communist and committed civil rights activist. She met her husband and closest friend, Robert Nemiroff, at a civil rights demonstration. Despite her marriage to a man, Hansberry identified as a lesbian, but she was not “out,” though it seems like she was on the path to a more open life before her death, having built a circle of gay and lesbian friends. In 1964, Hansberry and Nemiroff divorced but continued to work together, and he was the executor of her estate when she died of cancer in 1965. Nemiroff donated all of Hansberry's personal and professional effects to the New York Public Library but blocked access to all materials related to Hansberry's lesbianism for 50 years. Nemiroff passed away in 1991, and in 2013, Nemiroff's daughter released the restricted materials for research.

Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) was the first woman in the United States to graduate from medical school (1849) and obtain an MD degree.  Blackwell was born on February 3, 1821 to Quaker parents in Bristol, England. Although education for women was generally discouraged at the time, Blackwell’s parents disagreed. Throughout Blackwell’s childhood, her parents were very supportive of her educational endeavors. By the age of 11, Blackwell and her family immigrated to the United States. During Blackwell’s mid-20s, she had experienced the passing of a close friend. Prior to death, her friend had told Blackwell that she would have experienced less suffering if she had a female doctor. This inspired Blackwell to pursue a career path in medicine. In 1847, multiple medical schools rejected her because she was a female applicant. Fortunately, Geneva Medical College accepted her application but for improper reasons. The college allowed the all-male student body to determine her acceptance through a vote. Many of the students voted “yes” as a joke since she was a female. Blackwell experienced an extremely difficult time in medical school, she was constantly harassed and excluded by classmates and faculty. Despite the hardships Blackwell had to endure, she graduated in 1849 and was ranked first in her class. In the mid 1850s, Dr. Blackwell returned to the United States and opened a clinic to treat poor women. In 1857 Dr. Blackwell opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children with the help of her sister Dr. Emily Blackwell and colleague Dr. Marie Zakrzewska. This infirmary would be the nations first hospital that had an all-female staff. This hospital still stands and is currently known as the New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital and is helping millions of people in New York to this date. Additionally, in 1868, Dr. Blackwell created a medical college devoted to providing education for future female physicians which is now apart of Weill Cornell Medicine. In 1869 Dr Blackwell returned to England where she continued to advocate for women in medicine until her death in 1910.

Firefighter Carl Francis Asaro (1961 - 2001) died on September 11, 2001, during fire and rescue operations following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, he was a member of Battalion 9 in Manhattan. Asaro grew up in Whitestone, Queens.

Eugene M. Whelan (1969-2001) died on September 11, 2001, during fire and rescue operations following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Eugene was the ninth of 10 children and was determined to be a firefighter from the time he was 10 years old. He accomplished his dream in 1995 and was stationed at Engine Company 230 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. He lived on Beach 37th Street in Edgemere and was a parishioner at St. Gertrude’s Church.

Firefighter Michael Joseph Cawley (1969-2001) of Ladder 136 in Elmhurst, was killed at the World Trade Center during fire and rescue operations following the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.

Bernard M. Fineson (1905-1967) was an attorney who served as chief trial examiner for the New York State Labor Relations Board. A leading advocate in the movement to make a better world for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Fineson was active in the National Association of Retarded Children (NARC), now known as The ARC, from its founding in 1950. He was elected as president of the organization in 1966, serving for eight months before his death in 1967 at the age of 62. Born in London, Fineson came to the United States in 1907. He attended Syracuse University and graduated from Brooklyn Law School, going on to the firm of Ferris and Kuh from 1929 to 1941 and then working in private practice from 1941 to 1943. In 1944, he joined the New York State Labor Relations Board, serving as trial examiner beginning in 1946 and then as chief trial examiner in 1950. That same year, he became active in the newly formed National Association of Retarded Children (now The ARC), serving as president of the New York State ARC chapter from 1953 to 1959 and as president of the New York City ARC chapter from 1953 to 1958. He was elected to the organization’s national board of directors in 1958 and again in 1961. On October 22, 1966, he was elected president. Fineson also served as president of the Jacob J. Javits Republican Club of Washington Heights. Fineson and his family were living in the Kingsbridge Heights neighborhood of the Bronx at the time of his death from cancer on June 10, 1967. He was survived at the time by his wife, Mildred (Wolfson) Fineson, two children, Luba and Harris, and two grandchildren. He is buried at Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Glendale, New York. Run by the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, the Bernard M. Fineson DDSO (Developmental Disabilities Serv

Francis Lewis(1713-1802) was born in Wales. He attended school in England then moved to New York for business. Lewis was later taken prisoner in France before returning back to New York where he made a home in Whitestone. He was a member of the Continental Congress for years before the Revolutionary War and was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence.

Patrolman Joseph W. Norden (1916-1954), a Marine veteran who served in combat in the Pacific during World War II, was a five-year veteran of the New York Police Department when he was killed at the age of 38 in the line of duty on December 3, 1954. That night, Norden and his partner, who worked for the 104th Precinct, reported to a home where an ambulance required assistance removing a man in emotional distress. The man appeared calm, so the officers held him by the arms to descend the stairs, rather than restraining him any further. At the ground level, however, the man lunged at Norden, grabbing his revolver and firing three shots that killed Norden and the ambulance worker. Norden's partner then fired at the shooter, killing him. Norden was survived by his two daughters, then 7-year-old daughter Susan, 4-year-old daughter Mary, and his wife, Theresa, whom he had married in 1946. She was three months pregnant at the time of his death, and that daughter, Jody Norden Castro, grew up in a home that worked to ensure she always remembered her father. At the time of his death, Norden and his family lived at 62-15 Catalpa Avenue. The nearby intersection was co-named in his honor on Saturday, September 28, 2024 following a bill for the name change that was sponsored by Councilmember Robert F. Holden.

Ferdinand Foch (1851 – 1929), was a French general and the marshal of France and who served as Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. He is generally considered the leader most responsible for the Allied victory. Foch was born in Tarbes, France, his father was a civil servant. When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, the 17-year-old Foch enlisted in the French 4th Infantry Regiment in 1868. He entered the artillery corps in 1873 and from 1885 taught military strategy at the war college, becoming its commandant in 1908. After World War I broke out, he commanded an army detachment and planned the strategy that enabled Joseph-Jacques-Césaire Joffre to win the First Battle of the Marne. After commanding at the Battles of Ypres and the Somme, Foch was appointed chief of the general staff in 1917, adviser to the Allied armies, and then in 1918, commander in chief of all Allied armies, winning the battlefield against Erich Ludendorff. When Germany was forced to ask for an armistice, the conditions were dictated by the recently promoted Marshal Foch. Considered the leader most responsible for the Allied victory, he was showered with honors after the war and was buried near Napoleon in the Invalides.

Anthony Mazzarella (ca. 1937-2015) was a boxing enthusiast as well as a dedicated fundraiser for people with cancer. He owned the Crab House restaurant, known for its seafood and for its sports and boxing memorabilia. He donated to the precinct council, which used such donations to feed and clothe the homeless and also donated food for various events. He was a member of the New York State Boxing Commission, the NY State Wine and Grape Foundation, and the American Cancer Society Queens Division. He founded the Patty Fund for Childhood Cancer to help families with the financial burdens of medical bills. He started an annual Fourth of July block party that raised thousands of dollars for cancer patients, and also hosted a Christmas party for kids with cancer. He was honored with the American Cancer Society’s St. George Medal, its highest award for service and leadership in the fight against cancer.

Police Officer George Scheu (d. 1987) was a resident of Flushing, Queens. He served in the Navy for three and a half years before joining the New York City Police Department, where he served for over 19 years and received 14 medals for outstanding work as a police officer. An active member of the Naval Reserve since 1967, he was named the 1985 Sailor of the Year for New York State. Scheu was also vice president of the East Flushing Civic Association. On July 16, 1987, he was shot while attempting to stop an armed robbery while en route to a meeting of his Naval Reserve unit. Found on Murray Street in Flushing, Scheu died from his wounds five days later at the age of 41.

Malik Izaak Taylor (1970-2016), known professionally as Phife Dawg, was an American rapper raised in Saint Albans. Taylor co-founded the rap group A Tribe Called Quest in 1985 with his classmates Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Their biggest hit came in 1991, with the single “Can I Kick It?” The group went on to release five albums that sold millions of copies. Its album “Midnight Marauders” is often ranked as one of the best hip-hop albums of all time. Taylor also released a solo album in 2000 called “Ventilation: Da LP.” He died of complications from diabetes in 2016. Queens -- particularly the intersection of Linden Boulevard and 192nd Street -- was a fixture in A Tribe Called Quest’s rhymes, most notably on “Check The Rhime,” “Steve Biko (Stir It Up)” and “1nce Again.”

Thomas J. McCann (1955-2001) was a firefighter who died during fire and rescue operations following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. McCann grew up in Woodside, attended St. Theresa’s School and spent much of his free time at the playground and gymnasium at I.S. 125.  McCann’s childhood best friend, Raymond Curatolo, said of him: “Everything Tom stood for in life is what we look to build into the character of young students." McCann was survived by his wife, Anne, and their 2 children, Sean and Courtney.

Duke Kahanamoku (1890-1968), also known as "The Duke" was one of Hawaii's best-known athletes, but he may not be well known outside the surfing community. Born in 1890, Kahanamoku is known as the father of modern surfing - but he is legendary in the Rockaways, where he visited briefly in 1912. Ask almost any Rockaways surfer and you will get the same account: the Duke demonstrated surfing here in 1912, putting the Rockaways on the world surfing map for good. At age 21, he entered his first organized swimming competition using a new stroke now called the American crawl to win easily. In 1912, he arrived in California and introduced surfing. Kahanamoku was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in 1912, winning gold and silver medals in Stockholm. He was also on the Olympic teams of 1920, 1924 and 1928, and holds the distinction of winning gold medals in 100-yard freestyle in two different Olympics, 1912 and 1920. In his native Hawaii, Kahanamoku was elected sheriff for nine consecutive terms by the people of Honolulu. He also acted in a number of Hollywood movies. His street in the Rockaways is a major access road to a part of the beach that has been set aside for surfing.

Arthur O’Meally (1935-2022) dedicated over 40 years to volunteering and service in his community. He was an active member of the North Flushing Civic Association and the Flushing chapter of the NAACP. He was deeply committed to preserving historical sites and green spaces in New York. As a trustee of the Queens Historical Society, he served as vice president of operations. He was a certified Citizen Pruner for the NYC Parks Department and helped care for the Wyckoff-Snediker and Moore-Jackson cemeteries, two of the oldest burial sites in Queens. For his preservation work, he was honored with a Declaration of Honor from then-Queens Borough President Claire Shulman in 1999 and a Civic Achievement Award in 2005 during Black History Month. O’Meally was born at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica, New York, to Gladys L. and Vernon Edward O'Meally. Edward, was born in the British West Indies and worked as a porter after coming to the city. Arthur was drafted in 1958 to serve in the U.S. Army, where he served in the 1st Missile Battalion, 39th Artillery, attaining the rank of Specialist 4. He was stationed in Mainz, Germany, during the Cold War. When he returned to the states, he dated Millicent Chisolm, whom he married in 1961. They remained married for over 55 years. Arthur worked at York Industries, where he was eventually promoted to plant manager. The family moved from Jamaica, Queens and purchased a home in Flushing in 1976. Millicent O’Meally also has a long history of devoted community service, having served as a member of Queens Community Board 7 for 36 years before retiring in 2024, and as a member of the Flushing NAACP.

Police Officer Edward Byrne (1966-1988) was a rookie officer who was killed in the line of duty on February 26, 1988. Byrne was shot several times in the head and died instantly as he sat in his police car while on assignment protecting a drug case witness at 107th Avenue and Inwood Street in South Jamaica, Queens. The cold-blooded killing, which was apparently a plot to intimidate witnesses from testifying against drug dealers, shocked the consciousness of the city. A year after the murder, four men were convicted and sentenced to the maximum sentences of 25 years to life for the crime. Byrne was single, 22, and living in Massapequa, Long Island, at the time he was murdered. He had joined the police force the previous July, and worked at the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica, Queens.

Cadwallader Colden (1688-1776) was born to Scottish parents in Ireland in 1688, and raised in Duns, Scotland. In his early life, Colden trained to become a Presbyterian minister at the University of Edinburgh until transitioning to the sciences. Colden immigrated to the British colony of Pennsylvania in 1710 where he worked as a doctor and a merchant until moving to New York in 1718. As a scientist, Colden studied biology, botany, chemistry, physics, and astronomy, while pursuing research on cancer, yellow fever, smallpox, and climate-based diseases as a doctor. Some of Colden’s famous academic publications include The History of the Five Indian Nations Depending on the Province of New York (1727), a classification of local species in the Linnaean system (1749), and a critique of Sir Issac Newton’s work in The Principles of Action in Matter (1751). Colden also pursued roles in public service, holding the position of Master in Chancery and Surveyor General of New York, serving on the Governor's Council, and eventually as acting Governor up until the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. Colden was not popular among American colonists due to his British-favoring policies on trade, as seen in incidents such as the Stamp Act Crisis of 1765. Forced out of office by the war, Colden died on his Long Island estate near Flushing, Spring Hill, in 1776. In addition to this playground, the nearby Public School 214 in Flushing, is also named after him.