This January, we’re celebrating space exploration at Queens Public Library! Join us from January 26-31 for space-themed science and art programs, fascinating NASA presentations, and much more. Read this special blog post to learn more about our Space Week programs and book lists, and enjoy resources provided by NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration)!

In honor of Black History Month 2025, this collection spotlights individuals featured in the Queens Name Explorer whose names carry historical significance. From outspoken ministers to pioneering musicians to female leaders in public service, this small sampling provides a glimpse into the histories of Elmhurst, Corona, Flushing, St. Albans, Jamaica, Hollis, and Kew Garden Hills. This collection coincides with an exhibit running from January 30 to April 20, 2025 at Culture Lab LIC, 5-25 46th Avenue, Queens, NY 11101.

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and influential figures in jazz, known for both his trumpet improvisations and his distinctive singing voice. He also broke down numerous racial divides in the music and entertainment worlds, becoming the first Black performer to get featured billing in a major Hollywood film ("Pennies From Heaven," 1936) and the first Black host of a national radio show (Fleischmann's Yeast Show, 1937). Born in New Orleans in 1901, Armstrong grew up impoverished in a racially segregated city. He dropped out of school in fifth grade to work, and developed a close relationship with a local Jewish family that gave him odd jobs and nurtured his love of music. By the age of 11, Armstrong wound up in the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys, where he joined the band and studied the cornet in earnest. Upon his release from the home in 1914, he began working as a musician on Mississippi riverboats and other local venues. His reputation skyrocketed, and by the early 1920s he moved north, performing and recording with jazz bands in Chicago and New York. Throughout the 1920s and '30s, Armstrong made dozens of records with his own and many other ensembles, toured extensively, and began performing in Broadway productions and movies. After some business and health setbacks, and in response to changing musical tastes, Armstrong scaled his group down to a six-piece combo in the 1940s and resumed touring internationally, recording albums and appearing in movies. Some of his biggest popular hits came in the later years of his career, including "Hello Dolly" (1964) and "What A Wonderful World" (1967). His grueling schedule took its toll on his heart and kidneys and in 1968 he was forced to take time off to recuperate, but he began performing again in 1970. Armstrong died in his sleep in July 1971, just a few months after his final engagement at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Armstrong and his fourth wife, Lucille Wilson, purchased their home in Corona in 1943, shortly after they were married, and lived there for the remainder of their lives. I.S. 227, a public middle school serving grades 5 through 8, is located approximately one mile from their home, which is now the Louis Armstrong House Museum, offering public tours, concerts and educational programs.

James Nicholas Pappageorge (1972 – 2001) grew up on 95th Street in Jackson Heights. he attended day school at the Transfiguration of Christ Elementary and went on to Newtown High School. Having been deeply involved in a variety of sports since childhood that included volleyball‚ softball and football‚ Jimmy went on to pursue a career in physical therapy at Hunter College. After graduation he became an emergency medical technician, working at the scene of traumatic accidents and fires. He then became a paramedic and later, a firefighter. He graduated in July 23‚ 2001 from the Fire Department’s academy and was assigned to Engine 23 in Manhattan. He died during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001.

Marjorie and Nicholas Ferrigno were founding members of The Broadway-Flushing Homeowners’ Association. Marjorie Ferrigno (1916 – 2013) was an educator who founded the Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts. She was President of the American Educational Theatre Association which represented all nonprofessional theatre in the United States, Secretary and Executive Committee member of the American National Theatre and Academy, was Chair of the North Shore Branch League, taught speech courses at several universities, a founding chairman of the drama department at LaGuardia High School of Music and Performing Arts, past President of the American Educational Theatre Association, chairman of the North Shore Branch of League of Woman Voters and steering committee member of the Economic Development Committee. She was a founding member and President of the Broadway-Flushing Homeowners’ Association and won a landmark court case to enforce a restrictive covenant, which led to a rezoning of part of Northern Boulevard. Nicholas Ferrigno (d. 2010) was a senior instructor for American Airlines at JFK and LaGuardia Airport and a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers. He was a founding member of The Broadway-Flushing Homeowners’ Association.

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.

Hermon A. MacNeil (1866 – 1947), was an American sculptor who is known for designing the Standing Liberty quarter, struck by the Mint from 1916-1930, and sculpting Justice, the Guardian of Liberty on the east pediment on the United States Supreme Court Building. He was best known for his work with Native American subjects, and gained acclaim for his work as a portrait sculptor. He was taught sculpture in many art institutions, and gave Augusta Fells Savage private lessons when her acceptance to the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts was retracted after it became clear she was Black. MacNeil was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Massachusetts Normal Art School (now the Massachusetts College of Art and Design) in Boston, and then became an instructor in industrial art at Cornell University from 1886-89. He later studied under Henri Chapu and Alexandre Falguière in Paris and was granted a scholarship to study in Roma for four years. He went to Chicago to collaborate with Frederick MacMonnies1893 World's Columbian Exposition, and then came back to teach at the Art Institute of Chicago for a few years. He married fellow sculptor Carol Brooks in 1895 and they went to Rome and lived there for 3 years until 1899 before moving to Paris. The couple came back to the United States around 1900 when their first son was born, and soon after they purchased a home in College Point, where he lived and worked until he passed away in 1947.

Officer Robert J. Rogerson (1920-1975), a 29-year veteran of the NYPD who worked as an inspector in the License Division at the 114th Precinct in Astoria, was struck by a car, ultimately succumbing to his injuries. On June 24, 1974, he was at the station, standing in the middle of 35th Street near Astoria Boulevard to direct a cab driver into a driveway for the car's inspection. The cab went out of control, hitting Rogerson and dragging him 20 feet, striking and pinning him against a utility pole. The crash left Rogerson with a fractured skull, two broken legs, and internal injuries. He was taken to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition. Several of his fellow officers donated blood to assist with his internal hemorrhaging. Left in a coma, Rogerson tragically never recovered, and he passed away from his injuries on March 3, 1975. He was survived by his wife and two children, whom he lived with in Ridgewood, Queens, close to where this street was co-named in his honor. Inspection of the cab revealed no mechanical defects. The cab driver told police his foot had slipped from the brake pedal to the accelerator. He was given a summons for speeding.

Albert Mauro (1911 - 1982), a Kew Gardens Hills environmentalist, civil rights and community activist, and WW II veteran. After returning from military service and while working as an insurance adjuster, Mauro became involved with the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. He demonstrated throughout the South and attended the 1963 March on Washington. Mauro also joined the Sierra Club and Audubon Society, and took on many local environmental issues, including those involving his community and parks. He exposed the sludge problem in the Flushing Bay with organized walking tours and fought against the 1972 plan for installation of a nuclear reactor in the World’s Fair Science Building. His advocacy work included lobbying the state to preserve Willow Lake in Flushing Meadows, according to the Parks Department. The body of water would end up being classified as a protected wetland in 1976, six years before Mauro passed away in 1982.

The Chaney-Goodman-Schwerner Clock Tower sits atop the main library on the campus of Queens College.

Officer John Scarangella (1940-1981) was one of five children born in Brooklyn to Italian immigrants. A graduate of the adjacent Lafayette High School, Scarangella was an avid participant in Police Athletic League programs as a child. In 1969, he joined the New York City Police Department, as did three of his siblings. He served in the 60th, 67th, and 113th Precincts and was awarded two commendations, two Meritorious Police Duty Citations and five Excellent Police Duty Awards. Officer Scarangella was shot on May 1, 1981 when he and his partner stopped a van sought in connection with several burglaries. He died two weeks later. The suspects were later caught, convicted of murder, and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Both died in prison.

The legendary punk rock group The Ramones formed in 1974. The original lineup consisted of John Cummings (Johnny Ramone), Jeffrey Hyman (Joey Ramone), Douglas Colvin (Dee Dee Ramone) and Thomas Erdelyi (Tommy Ramone) all attended and met at Forest Hills High School. The Ramones are often cited as one of the original pioneers of the punk rock sound and was a major influence on the 1970’s punk movement in the United States and United Kingdom. The band was recognized in Rolling Stone’s, 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and was ranked the second-greatest band of all time by Spin magazine. In 2002, the original members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and were awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.

Francisco "Frank" Munoz (1972-2011) was a 29-year-old IT consultant working in the World Trade Center when the towers collapsed. He was one of 358 employees of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. killed during the attacks. Munoz was the son of Dominican and Colombian immigrants. On October 30, 2011, the corner of 111th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Corona was co-named Francisco Munoz Way in his honor. Father Juan Ruiz, a priest at Our Lady of Sorrows where Munoz attended elementary school, gave the invocation and benediction at the ceremony. State Assemblyman Francisco Moya (D-Corona) said the street renaming ensures Munoz will not be forgotten. "He will live every day because he will be remembered for the wonderful things he did and the love that he brought to his family, his friends, and his neighbors," Moya said.

Ann Buehler (1916 – 2010), began as a volunteer fundraiser in 1952 at the Boys Club, later known as the Variety Boys and Girls Club; eventually it became her career, and she became the first female executive director of the Variety Boys and Girls Club where she served for 30 years and was affiliated with for more than 50 years. She worked as the Civil Service Commissioner under Mayors Koch and Beame and was president of the Astoria Women’s Club, member of the Ravenswood Lions Club, Astoria Civic Association, United Community Civic Association, Astoria Historical Society and board member of Central Astoria Local Development. She received a citation from President Truman for volunteer work during World War II and also volunteered for the Red Cross and Greater NY Fund and received many citations from the 114th Police Precinct. She was also responsible for obtaining many college scholarships for Variety Boys and Girls Club members.

Police Officer Santos Valentin Jr. (b. 1961), a member of the New York Police Department's Emergency Service Squad 7, was killed on September 11, 2001, during rescue operations following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Benjamin N. Cardozo (1870-1938), former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1932-1938). Justice Cardozo is notable for both his defense of the New Deal’s social programs during his six short years at the Supreme Court and his advocacy for the common-law approach throughout his judicial career.  Born in New York City to a Portuguese Sephardic Jewish family, Justice Cardozo was tutored by Horatio Alger and various home tutors as a youth, before being admitted into Columbia College at age fifteen. Cardozo had ambition to restore his family’s honor, after his father, Judge Albert Cardozo of the Supreme Court of New York, achieved notoriety for his involvement with the corrupt Tweed ring. The elder Cardozo resigned in 1872, just before he could be impeached. After the younger Cardozo’s graduation from Columbia College and a few years at Columbia Law School, he joined his father’s law practice and entered the bar. In 1914, Cardozo was appointed to the Court of Appeals, he would serve eighteen years at the court - five of which at the head. Following Oliver Wendell Holmes’s retirement from the United States Supreme Court in 1932, Justice Cardozo was named to the Supreme Court by President Herbert Hoover. This appointment earned him the distinction of being the second Jewish judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court, after Justice Louis Brandeis. Despite later describing himself as an agnostic, Justice Cardozo volunteered within the Jewish community throughout his life. He was a member of the Judean Club, a board member of the American Jewish Committee, and a member of the Zionist Organization of America at various points. At the point of his appointment to the Supreme Court, he resigned from all offices except for his membership on the Executive Committee of the Jewish Welfare Board and on the Committee on the Advisor to the Jewish students at Columbia University. On the Supreme Court, he was one of the “Three Musketeers” - the nickname given to the three liberal members of the Court that supported the New Deal agenda, including Justice Brandeis and Justice Harlan Fiske Stone. He is noted for his defense of social security and old-age pensions in particular.  The City of New York acquired the land for this playground in April 1955, and it opened in August 1957 as J.H.S. 198 Playground. The playground contains benches and a softball field for the school and the community. Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern changed the name in 1985 to Benjamin Cardozo Playground, physically commemorating the life of a man who left an indelible mark on New York City.

Lewis Howard Latimer was an African American inventor and humanist. Born free in Massachusetts, Latimer was the son of fugitive slaves George Latimer and Rebecca Smith, who escaped from Virginia to Boston in 1842. Upon arrival, George Latimer was captured and imprisoned, which became a pivotal case for the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts. His arrest and the ensuing court hearings spurred multiple meetings and a publication, “The Latimer Journal and the North Star,” involving abolitionists like Frederick Douglass. The large collective effort eventually gained George his freedom by November 1842. Against this backdrop, Lewis Latimer was born in 1848. Latimer’s young life was full of upheaval as his family moved from town to town while tensions in the country continued to mount before the Civil War broke out in 1861. In 1864, Latimer joined the Union Navy at age 16. After the conclusion of the war, Latimer was determined to overcome his lack of formal education; he taught himself mechanical drawing and became an expert draftsman while working at a patent law office. He went on to work with three of the greatest scientific inventors in American history: Alexander Graham Bell, Hiram S. Maxim and Thomas Alva Edison. Latimer played a critical role in the development of the telephone and, as Edison’s chief draftsman, he invented and patented the carbon filament, a significant improvement in the production of the incandescent light bulb. As an expert, Latimer was also called to testify on a number of patent infringement cases. Outside of his professional life, Latimer wrote and published poems, painted and played the violin. He was one of the founders of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens and was among the first Civil War veterans to join the Grand Army of the Republic fraternal organization. He also taught English to immigrants at the Henry Street Settlement.

The following was written by Christopher's sister, Patricia Cardona: Christopher grew up always wanting to follow in his father's footsteps. He wanted to be a firefighter. While in school, he learned that to be a firefighter, you would need to take the test and then wait to be called. He was attending Queens College, and decided as a backup plan, he would get an education degree so he could teach. He had a passion for history and social studies. He favored the older kids. He graduated from Queens College with a teaching certificate in middle school social studies. He got his foot in the door as a substitute teacher in the middle schools of District 30. He worked at PS 2, IS 10 and IS 141. He was offered a permanent position teaching middle school social studies at IS 10, and he turned it down because he had gotten called to the academy of the FDNY. He was on his way to becoming a firefighter. He was technically on the job for eight months as a trainee.("probie"). He was then asked where he wanted to be stationed and was given a choice since his father had just retired as a Deputy Chief of the FDNY. He was well-respected and so they wanted to grant his son a choice. Christopher chose midtown Manhattan. He wanted action. This house \[Engine 54] is known as one of the busiest firehouses in all the five boroughs. He had never been to a fire prior to 9/11. He was at that firehouse for only a couple of months. The morning of 9/11, he was expected to be off duty at 8:30 a.m. The bell rang, and he jumped on board, eager to go to his first big fire. He was excited (as told to us by his housemates). He re-suited up and jumped on board along with 14 other guys (between the two trucks). He never came home. Meanwhile my parents, who were at home in Long Island City (you could see the Twin Towers from their high rise), got a call from his fire station lieutenant, asking him to come to work. My father reported that he never came home. It was then that they realized that he had gone down to the site. My father, with all his experience, had looked out the window and knew that the towers would fall by the way that they were burning. My parents watched the burning buildings from their window, not knowing that their son was there and had perished. Meanwhile, I was teaching at a Jackson Heights school that morning (PS 149) and was watching the events on the TV. It was only that evening when he didn’t come home that we realized he was there. We called hospitals, put up signs and held out hope that he was trapped and would be found. Fifteen guys never came home from his house -- the biggest loss out of any firehouse in the five boroughs. My parents attended many funerals and memorials from his firehouse, as well as all the people my dad knew. A few days after 9/11, they recovered the body of a member of his firehouse, Jose Guadalupe. Jose was a 6-foot, dark-skinned Hispanic male. My parents attended his funeral. The next few months, they attended every funeral and memorial service. We still had not recovered Christopher. In December, a few weeks before Christmas, my parents were visited by the Coroner of the City of New York. They admitted to making a huge mistake. Jose was misidentified. The body that was buried as Jose Guadalupe was in fact Christopher Santora. (Christopher was 5’8", Caucasian with blue eyes.) According to them, they were unrecognizable. They were identifying them based only on a rare neck bone anomaly that coincidentally both had. The body had to be exhumed, and we finally had Christopher’s remains. We had a funeral for him, and he is buried at St. Michael's Cemetery in Queens. Jose was never found. A few months later, Dr. Angelo Gimondo (former District 30 superintendent) reached out to my parents. D30 wanted to build a school and name it for a fallen firefighter of 9/11. When they learned that Christopher taught in D30, they knew they wanted to name it for him. My parents agreed. They began building the school, and it was scheduled to open in September of 2002. I put in an application to transfer. I was interviewed and released from my school, and I have been there ever since. The father of one of the newly hired teachers, Rani Skopelitis, was a carpenter for trade. He built the case in the lobby of the school which has Christopher’s firefighter uniform. They had a big dedication and opening ceremony, and we are still here today at the FF Christopher A. Santora School, PS 222.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was born in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau attended Harvard University where he met Ralph Waldo Emerson, with whom he would have a complicated but impactful friendship. After graduating, he became a teacher but resigned after just two weeks. Following a brief stint helping at the family business, pencil-making, Thoreau started a small school with his brother that survived for three years before closing. Thoreau then began dedicating his life to writing, and submitted poetry to a magazine. This magazine was made by Emerson and others in the Transcendentalist movement, which celebrated individualism, emotionality over rationality, and intuition. In 1845, after little success and a return to his family's business, Thoreau moved to a piece of land on Walden Pond, on Emerson's land and built his own home. He largely lived off the land, spent his time in nature, and writing about his observations and thoughts. The latter made up the famous book "Walden" which is composed of a series of essays. Partway through his time at Walden, Thoreau refused to pay his poll taxes and spent the night in jail. Though his aunt paid it and got him out the next day, these events were impactful and led to his essay "Civil Disobedience" in which he wrote about resisting an unjust government that promoted imperialism and slavery. He continued writing about abolition until his death in 1862.

Steve Knobel (1943-2021) served as President of the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights for over twenty years, during which time the Center served not only its congregants but also the entire community. Under Steve’s tenure, the Center became the de facto community center of Jackson Heights. The Jewish Center offered many programs including piano lessons for children, ESL classes for immigrants, tutoring sessions for young people, lectures, opera concerts and Broadway and Bagel performances.

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.

Gloria D’Amico (ca. 1927-2010) was Queens County Clerk for 19 years, the first woman ever to hold that position. Under her guidance the county became the first in the city to implement a jury duty call-in system, making it easier for potential jurors to find out if they had to serve. Among her many community activities, she served on the board of Sharing and Caring, an agency providing support for women with breast cancer.

W. Arthur Cunningham (1894 – May 5, 1934) was Irish American lawyer, war hero, and NYC comptroller. Cunningham was born in Manhattan, grew up in Brooklyn, and received his law degree from Fordham University in 1915. Cunningham served in the United States Army during World War I and rose to the rank of major, he fought the Germans in Lunéville, France, and received the Croix de Guerre with Palm for conspicuous bravery and the Purple Heart decoration for military merit. After the war he went into banking, and was an officer in the Textile Banking Corporation, first as counsel and later as vice president, until 1933. He lived with his wife and two sons in Forest Hills, Queens. Cunningham, an independent Democrat, and successfully ran for the position of New York City Comptroller in 1933 on Mayor LaGuardia's Fusion ticket, he served for four months before suffering a heart attack at age 39 in May 1934.

Robert Edwin Peary (1856-1920) was born in Cresson, Pennsylvania on May 6, 1856. His parents, Charles and Mary, originated from Maine. Charles died when Robert was three and Mary decided to move her only child back home to Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Peary attended Bowdoin College, joining the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, before graduating with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1877. After college, Peary worked as a county surveyor and a cartographic draftsman. In 1881, he was selected to become one of the Navy’s first civil engineers with the rank equivalent of lieutenant (USN). His first assignment was to inspect a new iron pier being built in Key West. His following assignment, assisting the chief engineer of a canal project in Nicaragua, sparked his thirst for Arctic exploration. Perhaps his dissatisfaction with being a “workhorse” in the jungles of Central America and the inspiration of an 1886 paper “on the inland ice of Greenland,” prompted Peary to set off to explore the Arctic by way of Greenland. In May of 1886, he embarked on his journey, “making a deeper penetration of the Greenland interior than anyone before him, and discovering, once the crevasses and meltwater lakes had been passed, a truly ‘imperial highway’ for the explorer.” This would be the first of several expeditions to Greenland and the Arctic with his crowning achievement as being the first to reach the North Pole on April 6, 1909. Peary’s polar claim was disputed due to a “combination of navigational mistakes and record-keeping errors.” Still, it is universally accepted that Peary and his close friend Matthew Henson, were the first to reach the North Pole. Peary retired from the Navy with the rank of rear admiral in 1911. His publications included Northward over the “Great Ice” (1898), The North Pole (1910), and Secrets of Polar Travel (1917). Rear Admiral Robert E. Peary is credited in the Navy as being “the most famous Civil Engineer Corps officer to date.” The most prestigious exploration and research awards Peary won in his lifetime were the Cullum Geographical Medal (1896), the Charles P. Daly Medal (1902), and the Hubbard Medal (1906). In addition to his career as a naval officer and Arctic explorer, Peary was also very interested in aircraft and their “possible use for exploration and military purposes.” Peary remains an important figure not only for his Naval career or Arctic exploration but also for documenting tidal observations of the Arctic Ocean and the livelihoods of the Inuit people. However, Peary’s treatment of the Inuit and disregard for their culture remain controversial today. Upon his death in 1920, Peary was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with a “monument featuring a large, white granite globe and a bronze star pointing north marking the North Pole.” "In 1986, the U.S. Postal Service issued a set of stamps about Arctic Explorers identifying Peary as ‘one of two Civil Engineer Corps officers to be associated with a postage stamp.’”

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.

Robert F. Wagner, Jr. (1910-1991) was a politician and diplomat who served as the 102nd mayor of New York City from 1954 to 1965. Along with Fiorello La Guardia, Edward Koch, and Michael Bloomberg, Wagner is one of four modern mayors to serve for a total of three terms. When running for his third term, he broke with his supporters from the Tammany Hall organization, beginning the decline of the political machine’s reign over city politics. The son of a U.S. senator, Wagner oversaw the City during a period of political and societal transformation. He was born in New York City on April 20, 1910, to Robert Ferdinand Wagner, a German immigrant, and Margaret Marie (McTague) Wagner. His mother died when he was nine years old, and he was raised by his father in Yorkville on New York City’s Upper East Side. Educated at the Loyola School on Park Avenue and at Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, he went on to receive his bachelor’s from Yale in 1933. He also studied at Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and the School of International Studies in Geneva, and in 1937, he received his law degree from Yale. From 1938 to 1942, Wagner served in the New York State Assembly. He resigned at the outset of World War II, and joined the Army Air Corps as an intelligence officer, where he achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel and received the Bronze Star and the French Croix de Guerre for his service. After the war, he returned to New York City, where he accepted a position as City Tax Commissioner, later holding the additional appointive posts of Commissioner of Housing and Buildings and chairman of the City Planning Commission. In 1949, Wagner was elected Manhattan borough president, a position he held until 1953. That same year, he ran for and won his first term as New York City mayor. At the time, the Tammany Hall political machine was prominent in NYC politics, and Wagner won his first two terms with their backing. By 1961, in an attempt to appeal to a broader electorate, he broke with the group. His third-term win signified a shift in and reduction of the influence of large political groups in the city politics. Wagner’s accomplishments as mayor include granting collective bargaining rights to municipal labor unions and securing state and federal funds to help build public housing. He approved the law that led to the development of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and he helped aid in the saving of historic structures such as Carnegie Hall. Wagner also promoted the arts, leading to the establishment of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and free Shakespeare productions in Central Park. He is credited with the integration of City government through the appointment of more people of color to administrative posts, the development of the City University of New York, and with the construction of parks, roadways, and schools. In addition, despite losing the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to California in 1957, Wagner was instrumental in luring another baseball franchise, the Mets, to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, which opened as Shea Stadium in 1964. Following his years as mayor, Wagner went on to work as a partner at a New York law firm. In 1968, he served one year as ambassador to Spain in the Johnson administration, and later served as presidential envoy to the Vatican from 1978 to 1981 under the Carter administration. In 1942, Wagner married Susan Edwards, the sister of his roommate at Yale, and together the couple had two children, Robert Jr. and Duncan. His first wife died in 1964, and the following year, he married Barbara Jean Cavanagh, the sister of Wagner’s former Fire Commissioner, Edward Cavanagh. They divorced in 1971. In 1975, he married Phyllis Fraser Cerf, the widow of writer and publisher Bennett Cerf. The couple remained together until Wagner’s death at his home on East 62nd street from heart failure on February 12, 1991. He is buried with his first wife, Susan, at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside. Constructed in 1910, the Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology is located at 47-07 30th Place in Long Island City.

Ralph Johnson Bunche (August 7, 1903 - December 9, 1971) was an African-American political scientist, diplomat, scholar, civil rights activist, and Nobel Prize winner. Bunche is most celebrated for his accomplishments while working at the United Nations, which he helped found. While at the U.N., Bunche was a leading figure in the decolonization movement and the Arab-Israeli conflict in Palestine. His mediation efforts during the conflict in Palestine earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1950, making Bunche the first African-American to earn the award. Upon his return following the armistice, he received a hero’s welcome in New York, where a ticker-tape parade was held in his honor.  Bunche was born in Detroit, Michigan, to parents Fred Bunche and Olive (Johnson) Bunche, as the oldest of two siblings. His father was a barber in a whites-only shop, while his mother was an amateur musician. He also had a younger sister, Grace, born in 1915. Little is known about Bunche’s childhood in Detroit; he had a modest upbringing, although his family struggled with finances. When Bunche was about ten years old, his family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, after his mother developed rheumatic fever upon the birth of his younger sister, Grace. Despite hopes that the arid New Mexico climate would help his mother’s ailing health, she died shortly after the move. Shortly after, Bunche’s father died for unknown reasons, leaving Bunche and his sister orphans.  After the death of his parents, he moved in with his maternal grandmother, Lucy Taylor Johnson, in Los Angeles, California. Bunche’s grandmother lived in a bungalow in a primarily white neighborhood, where Bunche would be subjected to racism. Recognizing Bunche’s potential and sage-like wisdom, his grandmother enrolled him and his sister at a local public school and encouraged him to aspire to a college education. Despite some school officials wanting to enroll Bunche in a vocational program, his grandmother insisted that her grandson receive a college preparatory education. Bunche maintained strong ties to education throughout his life. In high school, Bunche excelled intellectually and graduated as valedictorian of Jefferson High School. With the encouragement and support of his grandmother, Bunche accepted a scholarship from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied international relations. At UCLA, Bunche was an active student; he played on the school’s basketball and football teams, participated in debate and journalism clubs, served as a Phi Beta Kappa honor society member, and worked multiple jobs to support his education. In 1927, Bunche graduated with his Bachelor of Arts at the top of his class. Later, Bunche continued his studies, earning his master's and doctorate from Harvard University in 1934, becoming the first African American to earn a doctorate in political science. While earning his doctorate, Bunche worked as a political science professor at Howard University. Following his time at the United Nations, Bunche served as a New York City Board of Education member from 1958 to 1964 and was a trustee for the New Lincoln School in New York City. Bunche fiercely advocated for the desegregation of New York City Schools.  Outside of his diplomatic career, Bunche was heavily involved with the Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He frequently criticized America’s social systems, specifically segregation and racial oppression, arguing they were incompatible with democracy. Bunche participated in several marches led by Martin Luther King Jr., most notably the 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 Selma March. Moreover, he actively served on the board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1949 until his death. Bunche’s support of the Civil Rights Movement demonstrated his commitment to racial justice and equality.  Ralph Bunche died in New York at the age of sixty-seven due to complications with kidney and heart-related diseases. Many regarded him as one of the most accomplished and brilliant figures of his time, including President John F. Kennedy, who bestowed him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963. Over the course of his career, he earned several doctorates, honors, and accolades, overcoming racial and systemic barriers. Bunche’s accomplishments and support for human rights, education, racial justice, and decolonization cemented him as an influential figure in Black History for decades to come.

Albert C. Benninger (1885-1937), a former Queens Parks Commissioner, was born in the town of Germany, Canada. He moved to the United States at age four and later joined the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in the Spanish-American War (1898-1899). In 1905, after leaving the military, Benninger settled in Glendale, Queens. Seven years later, he was elected Queens Assemblyman and subsequently served on the Board of Aldermen. He briefly held the position of Commissioner of Public Works in 1916. Two years later, Mayor John F. Hylan (1869-1936) appointed Benninger as Commissioner of the Queens Parks Department. He retired from this role in 1928 but was re-appointed two years later, serving until 1933. From 1933 to 1937, he was the Federal Marshal for the Eastern District of New York.

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. P.S./M.S. 219, named in Dr. Klapper's honor, is a public school serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and influential figures in jazz, known for both his trumpet improvisations and his distinctive singing voice. He also broke down numerous racial divides in the music and entertainment worlds, becoming the first Black performer to get featured billing in a major Hollywood film ("Pennies From Heaven," 1936) and the first Black host of a national radio show (Fleischmann's Yeast Show, 1937). Born in New Orleans in 1901, Armstrong grew up impoverished in a racially segregated city. He dropped out of school in fifth grade to work, and developed a close relationship with a local Jewish family that gave him odd jobs and nurtured his love of music. By the age of 11, Armstrong wound up in the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys, where he joined the band and studied the cornet in earnest. Upon his release from the home in 1914, he began working as a musician on Mississippi riverboats and other local venues. His reputation skyrocketed, and by the early 1920s he moved north, performing and recording with jazz bands in Chicago and New York. Throughout the 1920s and '30s, Armstrong made dozens of records with his own and many other ensembles, toured extensively, and began performing in Broadway productions and movies. After some business and health setbacks, and in response to changing musical tastes, Armstrong scaled his group down to a six-piece combo in the 1940s and resumed touring internationally, recording albums and appearing in movies. Some of his biggest popular hits came in the later years of his career, including "Hello Dolly" (1964) and "What A Wonderful World" (1967). His grueling schedule took its toll on his heart and kidneys and in 1968 he was forced to take time off to recuperate, but he began performing again in 1970. Armstrong died in his sleep in July 1971, just a few months after his final engagement at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. This honorary street naming identifies this block of 107th Street as the location of the Louis Armstrong House Museum, formerly the home of Armstrong and his fourth wife, Lucille Wilson. After Lucille’s passing in 1983, she willed the home and its contents to the city of New York, which designated the City University of New York, Queens College to administer it. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 and a New York City Landmark in 1988. The archives became accessible in the 1990s, and the historic house opened for public tours in 2003. It also now serves as a venue for concerts and educational programs.

Patrick Collins was an Irish-American from Woodside who died on a European battlefield during World War 1.

Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Joubert Sr. (1922-2013) was the pastor of the Community Baptist Church in Bayside for 47 years, beginning in the late 1960s. A longtime resident of Bayside, he spent his life in service to his faith and his community. He served as president of the Bayside and Vicinity Interfaith Interracial Improvement Council for several years, which offered programs for young people, and he instituted the NYC Needy Family Food Program, which evolved into a family clothing program. Joubert was also chaplain of the Bayside Volunteer Ambulance Corps, a clergy liaison for the 111th Police Precinct, and president of the Bayside branch of the NAACP. In recognition of his lifelong service, he received many awards from the NYC Board of Education, the 111th Police Precinct Community Council, the Queens Borough President, and other agencies and organizations. Samuel Berthal Joubert was born in Grand Prairie, Louisiana, to Edmond Joubert III, who managed the family farm, and Virigie Wickliffe Joubert, a schoolteacher. The fifth of their eight children to survive infancy, Joubert attended high school in Opelousas, Louisiana, and Peabody High School in Alexandria, Louisiana. At age 15, he was elected president of the state 4-H Club. Serving for three years, he gave speeches around the state, experiences that he considered the beginning of his career as a public speaker. In 1945, he moved to New York City, settling in Harlem. On September 11, 1948, he married Doris Joyce Lee Thorpe, and the couple raised five children together. Joubert worked for a period at Harlem Hospital. In 1954, he began preaching full-time as pastor of the New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Upper Manhattan. On June 10, 2023, a co-naming ceremony was held at Community Baptist Church in Bayside to rename the northeast corner of 46th Road and 206th Street in Joubert’s honor as Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Joubert Sr. Way. The corner is located directly in front of the church where Joubert served his community for nearly half a century.

Francis Lewis (1713-1802) was a merchant, a Founding Father of the United States, and a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. Born in Wales, he attended school in England before working in a mercantile house in London. In 1734, he came to New York to establish a business. While working as a mercantile agent in 1756, Lewis was taken prisoner and sent to prison in France. Upon his return to New York, he became active in politics and made his home in Whitestone, Queens. A member of the Continental Congress for several years before the Revolutionary War, Lewis played a significant role in the nation's founding.

Dr. James Darius Dillingham (1865-1939) was an educator and school administrator whose 40-year career included 34 years of service as the first principal of Newtown High School. He was a defender of co-education in secondary school, arguing that it played a crucial role in readying students for adult life. An innovator in the field of vocational training, Dillingham instituted the only course in agriculture in any New York City high school while at Newtown. In addition, he sponsored a four-year music course and established other courses in subjects like merchandising. Serving as principal until 1935, he retired from Newtown High School at the age of 70. Dillingham was born in Berkley, Massachusetts, to Ajes D. and Lucinda I. (Harris) Dillingham. He attended Bristol Academy in Taunton, Massachusetts (now the Old Colony History Museum), and graduated from Amherst College in 1887. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar, but preferring teaching to law, he continued his studies at the School of Pedagogy at New York University, graduating in 1892. Dillingham began his teaching career in Toms River, New Jersey, and later taught in Jersey City. In 1894, he came to Queens, where he became the first principal of Corona High School. On August 7, 1901, he married Harriet Mahaffy of Salem, New York, a teacher and vice principal who also served two years as assistant principal at P.S. 16 in Corona. In 1898, Corona High School merged with what was then Newtown Union School to form Newtown High School, and Dillingham took over as principal. He obtained significant support for the school during his tenure, with funds allocated for two major construction projects, one in 1920 for $1,250,000 and another expansion effort in 1932 for $900,000. Beginning with 60 students, the school was serving more than 8,000 students by the time Dillingham retired in 1935. Dillingham and his wife lived at 41-47 Denman Street in Elmhurst, and she predeceased him in 1933. Active in civic affairs, he served as a director of Corona National Bank, a trustee of Elmhurst Presbyterian Church, and in several fraternal organizations including the Masons, Elks, and Odd Fellows. When Dillingham retired, he returned to live on the family homestead, a 200-acre farm in Berkley, where he was joined by his brother, John. On August 3, 1939, he died at the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence at the age of 73. A marker commemorating Dillingham’s 34 years of service as principal stands at Newtown High School, located at 48-01 90th Street in Elmhurst.

Firefighter Paul Gill (1967-2001) died during fire and rescue operations following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Manuel de Dios Unanue (1943-1992) was a Cuban-born journalist and radio host who was killed in New York City in 1992. De Dios was born in Cuba in 1943 and moved to the United States in 1973, after time spent in Spain and Puerto Rico, he settled in Elmhurst, Queens. He worked as a journalist for several Spanish-language newspapers in New York City, before becoming editor-in-chief of El Diario La Prensa, the largest Spanish-Language newspaper in NYC, in 1984. De Dios was best known for his investigative reporting on the Colombian drug trade. He wrote extensively about the drug cartels that operated in Queens, and he named names. His reporting made him a target of the drug traffickers, and he was slain on March 11, 1992, by a hitman for the Colombian drug cartel in the Meson Asturias restaurant on 83rd Street in Queens. This small park on the border of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst in Queens was named in his honor in 1993.

Walter A. Garlinge (1887-1918), was the first resident of Maspeth who died in the World War I. Private Garlinge was killed in action on September 2, 1918, just nine weeks before the end of the War. The memorial in the park commemorates all the soldiers from the Maspeth area of Queens who gave their lives in World War I.

Raoul Gustav Wallenberg (1912-c. 1947) was a Swedish humanitarian who saved the lives of approximately 100,000 Hungarian Jews threatened by Nazi persecution and execution during World War II. Wallenberg was born on August 4, 1912 to a prominent, wealthy family in Stockholm. He moved to the U.S. to study architecture at the University of Michigan in 1931, and then worked abroad before returning to Sweden in 1936. There he worked for a company owned by a Hungarian Jew, learning Hungarian after that country adopted anti-Jewish policies in 1938 so that he could travel to Budapest in place of his employer. In 1944 a U.S. War Refugee Board representative identified Wallenberg as someone who could lead efforts to rescue Jews in Hungary with assistance from the U.S. Department of State. He used his drafting skills to design counterfeit Swedish passports and distributed them on trains headed toward concentration camps. He purchased homes and painted them the colors of the Swedish flag, becoming neutral sites where Jews found safety. He also stocked warehouses with food for both rations and for bribes for Nazi officers. Wallenberg left Hungary on January 17, 1945 to meet with Soviet commanders about relief plans. He was reported missing soon after. A Soviet counterintelligence agency reportedly brought him to Moscow on suspicion of espionage. The Soviets claimed not to know what had become of him, but in 1957 the government shared documents that said he had died in a Russian prison in 1947 from a heart attack. Though the circumstances of his death remain unclear, it is widely believed that he was executed by the KGB. He was only formally declared dead in 2016. In October 1981, Wallenberg was made an honorary citizen of the United States. That December, City Council Member Arthur Katzman sponsored the bill to name this sitting area after Wallenberg. The site was dedicated in Wallenberg's honor on April 25, 1982. Several other locations are named for Wallenberg across the city, including streets in Brooklyn and the Bronx, a playground in upper Manhattan, and Wallenberg Forest in the Bronx.

Douglaston was colonized in the 17th century by the British and Dutch. The original inhabitants who lived there, the Matinecock people, are part of the larger Algonquin nation. While the Matinecock people are said to have sold land to the Dutch, there was also documented violence against them prior to this, as well as a smallpox epidemic that devastated the community years later in 1652. Others were forcibly removed from the land by Thomas Hicks. Members of the Matinecock tribe remain in Queens today. Douglaston is located on the North Shore of Long Island, bordered to the east by Little Neck, and to the west by Bayside. It represents one of the least traditionally urban communities in New York City, with many areas having a distinctly upscale suburban feel, similar to that of Nassau County towns located nearby. George Douglas purchased land in the area in 1835, and his son William Douglas later donated a Long Island Rail Road Stop.

Gregory Razran Hall on the campus of Queens College, July 2022.

John Roberts Pitkin (1794 - 1874) was a merchant, entrepreneur, and landowner whose foresight and vision led to the early development of areas in eastern Brooklyn. Beginning in 1835 with land he purchased in New Lots, he started to develop a town he called East New York. Though he lost much of his land in the Panic of 1837, his ambitions led to the founding of the Woodhaven, Queens. The son of a shoemaker and the third of six children, Pitkin was born on September 24, 1794, in Hartford, Connecticut, to John and Rebecca (Andrus) Pitkin. He began his career in the mercantile business in partnership with S. and L. Hulbert in Augusta, Georgia. In 1823, he married Sophia M. Thrall, and together they had seven children. By 1832, he had relocated to New York City to work in the dry goods business. After visiting the area of New Lots, at that time a largely rural region in the eastern part of Brooklyn, he was impressed by the vast expanses of land so close to New York City, and he made plans to develop it into a new city, the Village of East New York. On July 1, 1835, Pitkin bought his first piece of property on land that he called Woodville for the dense woods that covered the area. Together with his brother-in-law, George W. Thrall, they purchased land, had it surveyed, and began to lay out streets and building lots, which were sold for $10 to $25 each. To attract buyers, Pitkin began the area’s first newspaper, called The Mechanic. In addition, he opened a shoe factory, the East New York Boot and Shoe Manufactory Company of New York. Located on Liberty Avenue, the enterprise employed about 100 people. Pitkin’s dreams were dashed by the Panic of 1837, a major economic depression that lasted into the 1840s and forced him to sell much of his land. However, he retained the small section he called Woodville, and by 1853 it had grown considerably into a village. When the town applied for a post office, the request was rejected because there was already a Woodville in upstate New York. In the end, the inhabitants voted in favor of Pitkin’s top choice of name, and the town became Woodhaven. Pitkin’s first wife, Sophia, died in 1849, and he remarried on June 11, 1857, to Mary Allyn. Together, they had three children. Remaining in Woodhaven to raise his family, he later died on September 2, 1874, in Brattleboro, Vermont, at the age of 79. In May 1897, the street originally called Broadway was renamed in Pitkin’s honor by the New York City Council. Today, Pitkin Avenue runs from East New York Avenue in Brooklyn to just past Centerville Street / Hawtree Street in Ozone Park. Pitkin’s grave is located on a hilltop in Cypress Hill Cemetery and overlooks the communities he helped to establish.

Paul W. Schmalzried (1966-2022) served with the FDNY for 24 years. He was born and raised in Astoria, Queens, growing up fishing, hunting, and skiing with his two older brothers. Schmalzried joined the FDNY in February of 1998, where he helped keep his community safe, received a unit citation, and became the engine chauffeur as a regular firefighter in 2003. In 2007, Schmalzried earned a promotion to the rank of Lieutenant, then the rank of Captain by May of 2021. After becoming Captain, he served as the head of CTS Chauffeur Training School where he taught others how to operate fire trucks. In 2022, Schmalzried passed away as a result of 9/11 related illness, but is remembered by his family and community as a selfless hero.

Carlos R. Lillo (1963-2001), was a paramedic for the New York City Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services Division who died while on duty on September 11, 2001.  Raised in Astoria, Queens, Lillo began his career in emergency medicine as a volunteer with the Astoria Volunteer Ambulance Corps. As an emergency medical technician (EMT), Lillo joined the city’s Emergency Medical Services in 1984. He worked on a tactical unit in some of the roughest neighborhoods in the Bronx during one of the most active times in EMS history. Pursuing his dream career, Lillo attained advanced lifesaving skills and became a paramedic in 1990. Lillo demonstrated his dedication and commitment to the citizens of the city, state and country as he performed his duties on September 11, 2001. Carlos Lillo Park serves as a touchstone for the many families who lost loved ones on 9/11 and provides the neighborhood with a place for solace and reflection

Lieutenant Mario Bastidas (1961-2017) served as a paramedic for 26 years, eventually rising to the rank of Lieutenant in the FDNY Emergency Medical Service Command. He responded to the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and spent countless hours at the World Trade Center in rescue and recovery efforts. During these operations, he was exposed to toxins that led to an aggressive form of cancer, to which he succumbed in April 2017.

Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was a marine biologist who worked for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries (later the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) while developing a career as a nature writer. She published her first book, Under the Sea-Wind, in 1941. After the success of her second book, The Sea Around Us, which won the National Book Award and the John Burroughs Medal in 1951, she resigned from government service to focus on her writing. Her third book, The Edge of the Sea, was published in 1957. Carson is best remembered for her groundbreaking 1962 book Silent Spring, which examined the detrimental effects of the insecticide DDT on wildlife. Despite opposition from the chemical industry, an investigation was ordered by President John F. Kennedy (1917-1962), and in 1963 Carson testified before Congress. She died of breast cancer the following year. DDT was banned with the passage of the federal Clean Water Act in 1972.

Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (1943-1993) was born in Richmond, Virginia, and began playing tennis at the age of 10. In 1966, he graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he won the United States Intercollegiate Singles Championship and led his team to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. In 1968, Ashe made history by winning the men’s singles title at the U.S. Open. He was the first Black player selected for the United States Davis Cup team and remains the only Black man to have won singles titles at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. By 1975, Ashe was ranked as the number-one tennis player in the U.S. After a series of athletic triumphs, Ashe began to experience heart problems. He retired from tennis and underwent heart surgery in 1979 and again in 1983. During one of his hospital stays, Ashe likely received an HIV-tainted blood transfusion, which led to his contraction of AIDS. Despite his illness, he remained active in public life, participating in youth initiatives such as the National Junior Tennis League and the ABC Cities Tennis Program. Ashe also became a vocal critic of South African apartheid, which contributed to his being named the 1992 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. He passed away from pneumonia in New York at the age of 49.

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) was a Swedish botanist known as the father of modern taxonomy. "Linnaeus Park," New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, accessed February 3, 2023, https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/linnaeus-park Tom Garlinghouse, "Who was Carl Linnaeus?" LiveScience.com, updated February 02, 2022, https://www.livescience.com/carl-linnaeus.html

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) took up multiple pursuits in his life including writing, inventing, and representing the U.S. in the government. As a child and young adult, Franklin did not have access to formal education but independently studied through books, experiences, and relationships. Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and started off working under his father as a candle maker and then his brother as an anonymous writer. In 1723, he left his family life in Boston and moved back and forth between London and Philadelphia. After 18 months he settled in Philadelphia he supported himself by owning a print house and managing a news publication ‘Pennsylvania's Gazette’. The paper gained the colonies’ favor and became one of the major newspapers competing with brands like The Essex Gazette, The Connecticut Journal, and The New York Gazette. Franklin retired from the communications and media business in 1748. Leaving him with time to explore other sectors of his life. He began to pour into shaping his country by becoming a part of the conversations in Congress. Spending 28 years as a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly, concocted the Albany Plan which fought against imposing British taxes, and collaborated to create a draft for the Declaration of Independence. Amongst his political endeavors, he continued his education in research of electricity, eventually inventing the lightning rod in 1752. Franklin’s love of education was not only harbored in personal studies but manifested in the establishment of a library and school which are now known as the University of Pennsylvania. In 2014, Benjamin Franklin High School For Finance & Information Technology was established by the NYC School board. It specializes in allowing its students to get professional certificates in computer science.

Patrolman Kenneth Nugent (d. 1971) had served with the NYPD for 13 years and was assigned to the 103rd Precinct. On August 21, 1971, while on his way to work, he entered a luncheonette on Hollis Avenue and interrupted three men robbing the manager. Nugent drew his weapon and ordered the men to drop their weapons, but the suspects suddenly turned and opened fire. The officer managed to shoot and kill one suspect before being fatally wounded. Two other suspects escaped but were later apprehended and charged with murder. He was 41 years old when he was killed.

Michael Brennan (1973-2001), a New York City Firefighter, was a lifelong resident of the Sunnyside section of Queens. From a young age Michael wanted to be a firefighter, and he joined the NYPD are age 21. He was assigned to Ladder Company No. 4 in Manhattan. On September 11th Michael Brennan answered the call to the World Trade Center and perished in the collapse of the twin towers. He was survived by his loving parents‚ stepparents‚ 4 sisters‚ and 4 brothers.