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.

Peter’s Field is named for two of the city’s most prominent historical figures: Peter Stuyvesant (1610-1672) and Peter Cooper (1791-1905). Peter Stuyvesant, a Calvinist minister’s son, born in The Netherlands, joined the Dutch West India Company at the age of 22. After becoming the director of the company’s Caribbean colonies of Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire in 1643, Stuyvesant led a victorious attack on the island of Saint Martin; he gravely injured his right leg and was forced to have it amputated. The wooden leg he wore from then on earned him the nickname “Old Peg-Leg.” Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam in 1647 as the Director General of New Netherland and quickly worked to limit the sale of liquor, enforce his own church’s domination, and persecute Lutherans, Quakers, and Jews. Stuyvesant bought a farm, the Bouwerie (the namesake of the Bowery), in 1651, and built his home, White Hall, in 1655 at what is now the intersection of Whitehall and State Streets. Often remembered as a violent despot, Stuyvesant also encouraged commerce and helped form New Amsterdam’s municipal government until the British seized New Netherland in 1664. Following his withdrawal from public life, he retired to his farm where he lived until his death in February 1672.  New York City native Peter Cooper, an inventor with little formal education, began his career as a cloth cutter during the War of 1812. After becoming a prosperous glue manufacturer, Cooper built the country’s first steam engine, the Tom Thumb, at his Canton Iron Works factory in Baltimore. Deeply involved in New York City politics, he worked to disentangle the fire and police departments from their political connections, to supply better water and sanitation, to improve prison conditions and to provide the poor with public education. The namesake of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (formed between 1857 and 1859), Cooper was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1876, when he ran on the Greenback ticket.

Elizabeth White Marcum (1940-2024) was a volunteer, activist, and natural-born leader who was deeply engaged with her community of Astoria for more than 50 years. Marcum modeled the importance of volunteerism, civic engagement, and community activism to the youth of her neighborhood. She served in a variety of leadership roles in the Boy Scouts as a den mother in Troop 470 and went on to serve as one of the first female Cub Scout troop leaders, where she mentored numerous youths and led them on trips to Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. She also volunteered with the Girl Scout Troop 500, where she assisted with community-based fundraising activities, and at St. Joseph’s fundraisers and activities, including Little League and the St. Joseph’s Brigade Drum and Bugle Corps. As a committed activist for LGBTQ civil rights, she marched in pride parades and rallies and also served as a parent activist in the group Western Queens for Marriage Equality. A lifelong resident of Queens, Marcum was born in Maspeth on January 19, 1940, the youngest of four children to parents Homer Ensign White and Amelie “Emily” Tebbs. Lovingly called “Betty” by her mother and siblings, she grew up in Corona, attending P.S. 19, Junior High School 16, and Flushing High School. After a brief marriage to Burel Carter, she met and married her second husband, William Van Bramer, in 1966, and the couple made their home in Woodside/Sunnyside before settling in Astoria. She had her first child at the age of 17, and she would go on to register each of her seven children in the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, where she served as a volunteer and then troop leader. Marcum babysat during the day for a large roster of local children who knew her as “Aunt Liz,” and she is fondly remembered for the love, care, presence, and attention she gave to each of them. After a day of childcare, Marcum would regularly work the night shift at the local supermarket, arriving back home after midnight. She instilled a spirit of tireless service in the many children whose lives she touched, including her son, Jimmy Van Bramer, whose three decades of public service include 12 years as a member of the New York City Council representing District 26. Marcum took great pleasure in community activities, especially enjoying local block parties, barbecues, and the charity car washes that were a regular part of life in Astoria in the 1970s and 1980s. After battling vascular dementia for several years, she died on July 23, 2024. Preceded in death in 2012 by her husband, James “Eddie” Marcum, a longtime janitor at JHS/IS 10 in Astoria, she was survived by her seven children, 35 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. On May 11, 2025, a sunny Mother’s Day in Astoria, a co-naming ceremony was held dedicating the corner of 28th Avenue and 44th Street in her honor as Elizabeth White Marcum Way.

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.

Detective Anthony Venditti (1952-1986) served with the New York City Police Department for 14 years and was assigned to the Organized Crime Control Bureau Joint Organized Crime Task Force. Detective Venditti was shot and killed by members of the Mafia he was investigating. The suspects were acquitted of murder charges, but were later convicted of racketeering and sentenced to prison. Detective Venditti was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by the NYPD. He was survived by his wife and four daughters.

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, also known as Dr. José Rizal (1861-1896), is revered as a national hero of the Philippines. Born into a prosperous landowning family on June 19, 1861, in Calamba, Laguna, Rizal was a physician, writer, and fervent Filipino patriot. A highly educated and multi-talented individual, Rizal studied in Manila and at the University of Madrid. Trained as an ophthalmologist, he also excelled as a prolific writer, novelist, and polyglot fluent in numerous languages. His influential novels, "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo," ignited the Filipino people's demand for reforms against Spanish colonial rule. Much of his writing occurred during his European residence from 1882 to 1892. Deeply committed to his nation's welfare and independence, Rizal was a passionate patriot and nationalist. He aimed to highlight the rich history of the Philippines' indigenous people before Spanish colonization, notably by publishing an annotated edition of Antonio Morga’s “Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.” Rizal mastered twenty-two languages and traveled extensively, building friendships across diverse races, creeds, social strata, and professions. As a leader in the reform movement of Filipino students in Spain, Rizal contributed essays and numerous reform-oriented articles to La Solidaridad, a newspaper published in Barcelona. He also gained membership in both the Anthropological Society and the Geographical Society of Berlin. In 1888, José Rizal visited New York City, staying at the Fifth Avenue Hotel overlooking Madison Square Park. During this brief period, he continued to advocate for his country's independence and worked on his writings. Rizal's short stay in New York marks a significant historical point, underscoring the interconnectedness of the Filipino struggle for independence with broader global movements for freedom and self-determination. Upon his return to the Philippines in 1892, Rizal established the Liga Filipina in Manila, a nonviolent reform society advocating for moderate social reforms through legal means. However, the governor disbanded it. By this time, Spanish authorities had already declared him an enemy of the state due to the publication of his novels. This led to his exile to Dapitan for four years. By 1896, the rebellion against Spanish rule in the Philippines, fomented by the militant secret society Katipunan, had become a full-blown nationwide revolution. Around this time, Rizal volunteered his services as a doctor in Cuba and was granted leave by Governor-General Ramón Blanco to minister to victims of yellow fever. However, Rizal was arrested en route to Cuba via Spain and imprisoned in Barcelona on October 6, 1896. He was sent back to Manila the same day to stand trial, implicated in the revolution through his association with members of the Katipunan. His unwavering pursuit of reform culminated in his martyrdom on December 30, 1896, when he was executed by firing squad in Manila. His enduring legacy resonates throughout the Philippines, within the Filipino diaspora, and among global advocates for social justice. He is honored with a street in Woodside, a neighborhood long known as “Little Manila” due to its numerous Filipino restaurants and stores and the presence of one of New York City's largest Filipino communities.

Mary Vavruska (1932 – 2015) was a well-known Jackson Heights community activist that served the community for over 50 years and was instrumental in the building of Louis Armstrong Middle School, I.S. 227. She worked as the chair of Community Board 3 for many years, and was especially active on issues of land use, economic development, and education. She helped initiate the building of the 115th Police Precinct on Northern Boulevard. Vavruska also helped form the Jackson Heights Community Corp. and organized and implemented volunteer services for the homeless at the Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church. She was an active PTA member and championed the Department of Education to receive continual financial support for the maintenance of the Paired Schools under the Princeton Plan to integrate the schools between Jackson Heights, Corona, and East Elmhurst after the decentralization of school districts. She received the Volunteer of the Year from the Regional Alliance for Small Contractors, the Community Service Award from The Asociacion Benefica Cultural Father Billini and the Small Business Person of the Year from the Queens Chamber of Commerce.

Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was the seventh president of the United States, serving from 1829 to 1837. Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in Waxhaws, near Lancaster, South Carolina. He was orphaned at 14, after his father died shortly after he was born, and his mother and brothers died during the Revolutionary War. He was the first man elected from Tennessee to the House of Representatives, and also served in the Senate. Jackson was a general during the War of 1812, and fought against the British successfully multiple times. He quickly gained renown for his feats during the war, and became one of the most widely respected figures in the military in the United States, especially after his force’s stunning victory at New Orleans against the British in 1815. Jackson was elected president in 1828. As president, Jackson consolidated and frequently used his executive power, which invited critiques from Congress and his political opponents, the Whigs. He was watchful over government expenditures, managing to pay off the national debt in 1835. Jackson also advocated for the removal of Native American tribes to the west of the Mississippi River, claiming that the U.S. policy of trying to assimilate them into white society had failed. Congress authorized the Indian Removal Act in 1831, empowering Jackson to make treaties with the tribes and arrange their removal. More than 15,000 members of the Cherokee nation were forced to migrate to present-day Oklahoma. As many as 4,000 died on the journey known as the “Trail of Tears.” Jackson left office on March 7, 1837. He died on June 8, 1845, after fighting constant infections and pain. He was buried in the garden of his home, the Hermitage, two days later.

Paul A. Vallone (1967-2024) was an attorney and civic leader whose political career in the service of northeastern Queens and New York City was cut short when he died of a heart attack on January 28, 2024, at the age of 56. Part of a noted Queens political family, Vallone served as City Council member for District 19 from 2014 to 2021, and then as deputy commissioner of external affairs for the New York City Department of Veterans' Services from 2022 to 2024. His grandfather, Charles J. Vallone, was a judge in Queens County Civil Court. Both his father, Peter Vallone Sr., and his brother, Peter Vallone Jr., represented Astoria on the City Council, from 1974 to 2001 and 2002 to 2013 respectively, making for a 47-year run of City Council service by the Vallone family. Born on June 2, 1967, and raised in Astoria, Vallone attended high school at St. John's Preparatory School, graduated from Fordham University, and received his law degree from St. John's University. He was admitted to the New York and New Jersey Bar Associations in 1992. Prior to his political career, he was a managing partner at his family’s general practice law firm, Vallone and Vallone LLD, which was founded in 1932 by his grandfather. Vallone moved from Astoria to northeast Queens and, failing in a bid for City Council office in 2009, he followed in his family’s footsteps in 2014 when he won the District 19 seat. He was known as an advocate and champion for the Queens communities he served. During his tenure, he sponsored 800 pieces of legislation — 128 of which he was the first primary sponsor — and was credited with fundraising nearly $40 million in funding for his district. He was at the forefront of adopting participatory budgeting, which allows constituents the opportunity to vote for and prioritize the capital projects they want funded by their councilmember’s office. As Vallone shared with the Queens Daily Eagle in 2021, “It was a beautiful way to create community involvement in your own tax dollars.” Vallone was dedicated to supporting students and seniors in his district. While on the council, he helped expand school capacity by 4,500 seats and reinstated the New York City Council Merit Scholarship, known as the Peter F. Vallone Academic Scholarship, awarding high school graduates up to $350 per semester. He also helped to launch a free transit service for northeast Queens seniors. In addition, he spearheaded a project that brought $3.6 million in improvements to Flushing’s Bowne Park. The work was completed in the spring of 2023 and included upgrades to the playground, pond, plaza, and bocce court. In recognition of Vallone’s dedication to improving schools for his district, a 627-seat addition to P.S. 169 Bay Terrace School and Bell Academy in Bay Terrace was named in his honor. Located at 18-25 212th Street, the Paul Vallone Community Campus officially opened at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 17, 2024. The site serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade and includes 16 classrooms, five kindergarten rooms, and three special education rooms. As a strong advocate for veterans, Vallone voted as a city council member in favor of a measure that established the New York City Department of Veterans' Services in 2016, making it the first City agency in the country dedicated to serving veterans and their families. After his tenure on the city council ended due to term limits in 2021, Vallone lost a bid for a Civil Court seat in eastern Queens. But he continued his public service in 2022, when Mayor Eric Adams appointed him as deputy commissioner of external affairs for the new Department of Veterans' Services. Vallone held that role until his death in 2024. In addition to his government work, Vallone was active in his Flushing community as a soccer coach for St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy, winning two championships for the school, and also coaching his two daughters, Lea and Catena, and his son Charlie (Charles J. Vallone III). Vallone was survived by his wife, Anna-Marie, and three children. Two other city locations are named in Vallone’s honor. They include Paul A. Vallone Way, at the intersection of 157th Street and 32nd Avenue in Flushing, and the Paul A. Vallone Queens Animal Care Center, located at 1906 Flushing Avenue in Ridgewood.

Samantha Smith (1972-1985) was an American peace activist during some of the most tense moments in the Cold War. Samantha Smith was born in Maine in 1972. In 1982, at 10 years old, she decided to write a letter to the then current Soviet Union Leader Yuri Andropov. Smith had listened to newscasters and watched science videos on the imposing threat of nuclear war. Feeling anxious about the global situation, Smith followed her mother's advice to reach out directly to the new leader of Soviet Russia. In the letter, Smith expressed her concern over the threat of war. She asked Andropov if he was planning to vote for there to be a war and "why he wanted to conquer the world." The letter was published in the Soviet newspaper "Pravda." Although Smith was excited that her letter was published, she had not yet received a response from Andropov himself. Therefore, Smith wrote a second letter, this time to the Soviet Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Dobrynin, to ask why Andropov hadn't responded. In the spring of 1983, Andropov responded to her letter, assuring that he did not want to conquer the world and inviting Smith and her family to visit the Soviet Union. This letter gained national attention and although some were skeptical on Andropov's reasons for inviting Smith to the USSR, she ultimately decided to go and visited in July, 1983. Samantha was met with a warm welcome from the Russian public and media. During her two week stay in Russia, Smith visited Lenin’s grave, the Bolshoi Ballet, the Artek summer camp in Crimea, and met Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to go to space. She met many people, including fellow children, many of whom had never met an American before. Her visit was widely covered by both Soviet and Western press. She was dubbed "America’s Youngest Ambassador." Upon her return to the United States, Smith appeared on many media outlets such as "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson," Disney Channel (where she interviewed Democratic presidential candidates), had many interviews, and began writing her own book. Smith described that Americans had been given the wrong impression of Soviet people. She reported that unlike how the Soviets were often portrayed, they wanted peace just as much as any American did. Smith also stated that the other children she met in Russia were just like some of the kids she knew in the United States. Overall, the experience was very positive for Smith and highlighted the humanity that exists no matter which country you are from. However, with this coverage, some questioned whether Samantha Smith was being used as a pawn by both governments. Yet some argue that by presenting and representing herself as a regular American girl, Smith evaded this mistrust. Additionally, although the goal of the invitation might have been to show Soviets as peace-loving and kind, the trip also brought a favorable light to Americans. Smith made it hard for both sides to continue villainizing each other. Samantha Smith's journey was inspirational and showed the power of human connection during war. However, her work had little impact on the increasing strain between the two governments. The relationship continued to deteriorate and nuclear war was still a massive threat. Through this turmoil, Smith was prepared to stay in the spotlight and stand as an example of what can be achieved through openness and curiosity. Tragically, Samantha Smith and her father were killed in a plane crash in 1985 on their way back to Maine. She was 13 years old. Both the United States and the Soviet Union mourned her passing. President Reagan sent a condolence letter to her mom and both American and Soviet officials attended her funeral in Maine. In total, about 1,000 people attended. She was also eulogized in Moscow as a champion of peace. Since her death, many places and things have been named in her honor. Such as a bronze statue in Augusta, Maine made in 1986, depicting Smith releasing a dove with a bear cub clinging to her legs. The bear cub represents both Russia and Maine, bears are considered iconic symbols of both areas, and the dove is an international symbol of peace. Additionally, in 1985, Soviet Russia released a stamp with Smith's face and name (in Russian) and named a diamond found in Yakutsk, Siberia after her. Following her death in 1985, her mother Jane Smith, founded the Samantha Smith Foundation. Over the course of a decade, The foundation organized summer visits for children, to and from the Soviet Union and its successor states. In 1986, Jane Smith accompanied 20 of Samantha Smith's classmates on a trip to Moscow to visit some of the site Samantha had also visited 3 years earlier. In 1988, Soviet children came to summer camp in Maine, and Maine children went to summer camp in Russia through the Foundation. Then in 1990 the Foundation hosted children from the Chernobyl fallout zone, many of them suffering radiation-induced health problems. The next year, in 1991, they...

Rathaus Hall on the campus of Queens College, 2022.

Terri Mona Adams (ca. 1942-2017) was a lifelong Hunters Point resident and civic leader. She retired from the United States Navy in the 1980s as an operations supervisor. She served as president of the Hunters Point Community Development Corp. (HPCDC), a merchant group established in 1952. She was also a member of Community Board 2. Under her leadership, HPCDC initiated an Easter Parade on Vernon Boulevard and an egg hunt and Easter Bonnet contest in John Andrews Playground. Halloween and Stop the Violence events were also held there under her leadership. She started the annual Hunters Point Community Unity event in 1995 and also worked with the 108th Precinct to combine Community Unity with National Night Out Against Crime. She organized the first Hunters Point Farmers Market and Hunters Point Eco-Friendly Flea Market on 48th Avenue in 2005. In addition, under her leadership, HPCDC started sponsoring Holiday Lights on Vernon Boulevard, and the annual Breakfast with Santa for Children at the Riverview Restaurant. She also served as president of St. Mary’s Seniors.

Elmer Ebenezer Studley (1869 - 1942) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. From 1933 to 1935, he served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Studley was born on a farm near East Ashford, Cattaraugus County, N.Y. in 1869. He went to local schools before attending Cornell University which he graduated from in 1894. He was a reporter for Buffalo newspapers in 1894 and 1895, and studied law, passing the bar in 1895 and began his practice in Buffalo. He was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the Two Hundred and Second Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, serving in the Spanish American War in 1898 and 1899. After the war he moved to New Mexico where he practiced law and began to get involved in politics until 1917, when he moved to New York City. He continued to practice law in New York and became Deputy New York State Attorney General in 1924 and was United States commissioner for the Eastern District of New York in 1925 and 1926. In 1932, he was elected at-large as a Democrat to the 73rd United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1933, to January 3, 1935. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law. In February 1935 he was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a member of the Board of Veterans' Appeals and served until his death in 1942. Studley is buried at the Flushing Cemetery.

John Lionel Golden (1874-1955) was a playwright who, at one time, had a Broadway theater named after him (202 W 58 Street). Golden and his wife opened their huge property in Bayside to the neighborhood for recreational activities. When they died, they donated the property to the city with the stipulation that it remain a park. The land is now Crocheron Park and a portion is designated as Golden Field. According to Wikipedia, as a songwriter, Golden was best-known as lyricist for "Poor Butterfly" (1916). He produced many Broadway shows and four films.

Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) was a writer, philosopher, and politician who is widely revered in the Asian subcontinent. He was also a scholar, lawyer, and well-known poet whose Urdu poetry is world-renowned. Muhammad Iqbal is commonly referred to as the honorific Allama, meaning “very knowing and most learned.” He was born in Punjab on November 9, 1877, which was under the jurisdiction of the British Raj (1858-1947) at the time. Before Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founding father, established the new state in 1947, Allama Iqbal envisioned its creation. He had a vision of a culturally and politically independent Muslim state that promoted Islamic ideals and combatted the oppression and discrimination Muslims experienced living in India. Influenced by the democratic principles held in the United States Constitution, Allama Iqbal advocated for a Muslim state that promoted the ideals of “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.” As such, Allama Iqbal revived the two-nation theory, which inspired Muhammad Ali Jinnah to create an exclusively Muslim state. The American Pakistani Advocacy Group (APAG), the organization responsible for initiating this street co-naming in honor of Allama Iqbal, chose this location in the South Richmond Hill area to mark it as the epicenter of APAG’s community service work for the Pakistani diasporic communities residing in Queens and beyond.

Admiral David Dixon Porter (1813-1891), for whom both the park and the adjacent Public School 94 are named, was born in Chester, Pennsylvania. He followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the United States Navy. During the Civil War, Porter served under Admiral Farragut during the capture of New Orleans. Later, as the commander of the Mississippi River Squadron, he joined General Ulysses S. Grant in the historic Vicksburg Campaign and was promoted to rear admiral, one rank below full admiral. In January 1865, Porter directed the bombardment of Fort Fisher in Wilmington, North Carolina. Porter was promoted to full admiral after Farragut’s death in 1870, and he remained the most senior officer in the Navy for the next 21 years. In 1951, the City of New York acquired the land adjacent to P.S. 94 and constructed a park for the school’s use. The City named the new park in honor of Sy Seplowe, a community activist and youth advocate who founded the Little Neck-Douglaston Youth Club and was a founding member of Community Board 11. In 1985, Parks renamed the property Admiral Park; however, the playground within the park continues to be known as Sy Seplowe Playground (see separate entry). The park’s nautical theme was inspired by Admiral Porter’s career in the U.S. Navy. The nautical motif is especially evident in the spray shower, a magnificent, 15-foot-tall sea serpent.

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.

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. Other places in Queens named for Helen Marshall are: Helen Marshall Boulevard, The Helen Marshall Playground, and The Helen M. Marshall School.

Barbara Jackson (1942 – 2020) was a veteran Queens’s Democratic district leader and union official who dedicated her life to the LeFrak City community. Jackson served as a district leader for East Elmhurst and Corona in Assembly District 35 Part B from 1992 until her death. She represented LeFrak City, the complex she called home for decades. She began working with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts, known as the IATSE, in 1988, where she served as the Executive Assistant to the General Secretary-Treasurer for almost three decades. In 2008, she was one of four delegates elected to represent New York’s 5th Congressional District at the Democratic National Convention. She was also a member of the Elmhurst Hospital Community Advisory Board and regularly attended Queens Community Board 4 meetings for years, and was awarded the Marjorie Matthews Community Advocate Award from the New York City Health and Hospital Corporation for outstanding leadership and work on behalf of Elmhurst Hospital Center and the Community. Barbara was also awarded the Harry T. Stewart Award (the highest Branch Award) from the Corona-East Elmhurst Branch NAACP, of which she was a lifetime member. Barbara was a member of Key Women of America Inc., Concourse Village Branch, (second vice president), a member of the Corona-East Elmhurst Kiwanis Club, and attended monthly meetings of the 110th Pct. Community Council and served as the Community Liaison to Community Boards 3Q and 4Q for former U. S. Representative Joseph Crowley.

Saint Mel of Ardagh (d. 487 or 488) was a missionary and bishop who was active in the early part of the fifth century. One of the earliest Irish saints, he was believed to be a disciple and nephew of Saint Patrick, and his ministry was an important part of the early establishment of Christianity in Ireland. Thought to be a native of Britain, Saint Mel was the son of Conis and Darerca, who is considered to be the sister of Saint Patrick. According to legend, she was the mother of 19 children, the majority of whom entered religious life. It is said that Mel traveled with Saint Patrick into the Irish countryside, preaching and evangelizing the Christian Gospels. While at Ardagh, a village in modern-day County Longford, Patrick established a church and ordained Mel as the local bishop, also making him the abbot of an adjoining monastery. According to traditional narratives, Mel continued to travel, performing manual labor to support his missionary work and giving back much of what he earned to help those in need. He is believed to have professed Saint Brigid as a nun, also giving her abbatial powers on par with those of contemporary bishops. An often-cited legend around Saint Mel tells of his living on a farm during a portion of his ministry with a woman, possibly his aunt, Lupait. This gave rise to gossip, prompting a visit from Saint Patrick. Mel and Lupait produced miracles to prove the innocence of their relationship, with Mel pulling a live fish from his plowed field and Lupait carrying hot coals without being burned. Revered to this day as the patron saint of the Roman Catholic diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, Saint Mel died in County Longford, leaving behind a monastery that flourished for centuries. Saint Mel Catholic Academy opened in 1960 and is located at 154-24 26th Avenue in Flushing.

Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), known as “Lady Ella,” the “Queen of Jazz,” and the “First Lady of Song,” was the most celebrated jazz singer of her generation. In a career that spanned six decades and more than 50 years, she was widely recognized as a singular vocal talent, known for her wide range, stylish phrasing, clear and pure tone, impeccable diction, heartfelt vocal delivery, and the thrilling virtuosity of her improvisational style of scat singing. She performed with big bands, symphony orchestras, and small jazz groups, and appeared in clubs and concert halls around the world. Her work reflects a mastery of a wide array of styles including swing, bebop, show tunes, jazz songs, soul, novelties, bossa nova, and opera (in a 1959 album of excerpts from "Porgy and Bess" recorded with Louis Armstrong). She earned the respect, accolades, and love of fellow musicians and audiences the world over, as well as dozens of honors for her lifetime of vocal performances and recordings. Of Fitzgerarld, singer and actor Bing Crosby remarked, "man, woman or child, Ella is the greatest." She was born on April 25, 1917, in Newport News, Virginia, to William Ashland Fitzgerald, a wagon driver, and Temperance “Tempie” Henry, a laundress. The couple separated within a year of her birth. In the 1920s, her mother settled with her young daughter in Yonkers, and was joined by her boyfriend, Joseph da Silva. In 1923, Frances da Silva, Fitzgerald’s half-sister, was born. The family struggled financially, and to help out, Fitzgerald took on small jobs such as working as a runner for local gamblers and as a lookout for prostitutes in neighborhood brothels. In 1932, her mother died from injuries sustained in a car accident, and in 1933, Fitzgerald moved in with an aunt in Harlem. In this difficult period, Fitzgerald’s grades suffered, and she started skipping school. She was sent to a state reform school, but escaped and returned to Harlem, where she found herself broke and alone. She began singing and dancing on the streets for tips. On November 21, 1934, she made her debut at an amateur night performance at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. Having planned to dance, she panicked in the moment and sang instead. She took first prize. In 1935, she joined drummer and bandleader Chick Webb’s orchestra and began performing across the country, including at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. “A-Tiskit, A-Tasket,” a song she co-wrote and recorded in 1938, became a hit on the radio, and it boosted her and Webb to national fame. Following Webb’s death in 1939, Fitzgerald took over as bandleader, a position she held until the group broke up in 1942. She recorded prolifically for Decca from 1935 to 1955 and toured internationally with an array of jazz and pop stars such as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, the Ink Spots, and the Mills Brothers. In 1949, she began to appear in producer Norman Granz’s popular Jazz at the Philharmonic series. Granz eventually became her manager, and Fitzgerald was the first artist signed to his newly created Verve label. From 1956 to 1964, Fitzgerald recorded an eight-album series of the Great American Songbook for Verve. Consisting of Fitzgerald’s now classic interpretations of the works of Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, and Ira and George Gershwin, the albums were hugely popular with jazz and non-jazz listeners alike. Lyricist Ira Gershwin said, "I never knew how good our songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them." A frequent television guest, Fitzgerald appeared on dozens of programs, including The Frank Sinatra Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Andy Williams Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show. She made her film debut in Abbott and Costello’s Ride 'Em Cowboy in 1942, and went on to appear in several others, including Pete Kelly’s Blues in 1955. In 1941, she married Benny Kornegay, a shipyard worker, but the marriage was annulled after two years. While touring with Dizzy Gillespie’s band, she met bass player Ray Brown, and they married in 1947. The couple adopted a child born to Fitzgerald’s half-sister, Frances, naming him Ray Brown, Jr., and they settled in East Elmhurst. However, touring schedules and the work of their respective careers took their toll, and they divorced in 1953. Fitzgerald eventually settled in the Addisleigh Park historic district in the neighborhood of St. Albans, where she resided until 1967. She continued to record and perform in the 1970s, including a two-week engagement in New York City in 1974 with Frank Sinatra and Count Basie. Fitzgerald made her last public performance at Carnegie Hall in 1991. In 1993, she established the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, which focuses on grants for education, basic care for those in need, and medical research. After developing health problems from heart disease and diabetes, she died on June 15, 1996, at her...

William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) was a poet and editor born in Cummington, Massachusettes. He is known as one of the most celebrated figures of 19th-century America, as well as being the editor of the New York Evening Post for 50 years. Bryant's most notable work "Thanatopsis" was one of the most well known poems at the time. Bryant's childhood was a little unstable as his family fell into financial troubles not long after his birth. This forced the entire family to stay with his grandparents. His childhood was also a period of strict discipline and hard labor. Even though Bryant was bright and eager to learn, the school imposed a strict regimen and lessons were taught under threat of being hit by a long piece of wood called the "switch." However, Bryant was an inquisitive child who learned to stimulate his thoughts through nature. Bryant drew inspiration from his father, Dr. Peter Bryant, an educated man with high ambitions and a desire to be a productive member of society beyond Cummington. Another major point of influence for Bryant was the development of the United States as a nation. Elite colleges began popping up within the United States, and Bryant's dad was determined to get his son the humanistic education he himself was denied. Bryant's first work commented on the Embargo Act of 1807 and his later works discussed the mortality of the Civil War. While writing his poems, Bryant studied and practiced law. However, in 1828, he left the law and to become a New York editor. As an American poet respected in Europe and an editor at the center of New York City’s cultural renaissance, Bryant's thoughts and opinions were highly sought after. He became one of the first American writers able to make enough profit from his writing to support himself and his family. Although in later years he lost much of his power as editor, Bryant was still a beloved and highly influential figure. No one could challenge his place as First Citizen of New York. Over the decades, he had been the prime advocate for a unified and uniformed police department, for the paving of the city streets, and led the way for creation of Central Park. He also fought for the establishment of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as an attribute of a great world city, and supported the right of labor to unionize. Bryant lived a long and prosperous life, contributing to greatly to American culture. He died in his 80s after suffering from a stroke.

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) was the 34th President of the United States, serving two terms from 1953-1961. Before serving as president he had a long military career including commanding the Allied Forces landing in North Africa in November 1942. In addition, he served as Supreme Commander of the troops invading France on D-Day, 1944. After the war, Eisenhower served as the President of Columbia University and in 1951 as the Supreme Commander of the newly assembled NATO forces. He ran for and won the Presidency in 1952, using the slogan “I like Ike”. As President he worked to reduce the strains of the Cold War, signing the Korean Truce in 1953. The death of Stalin in 1953 also allowed him to establish better relations with the Soviet Union. Domestically, Eisenhower was considered a moderate Republican and continued many of the New Deal and Fair Deal programs. He advocated for Civil Rights, sending troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to assure compliance with the orders of a Federal court to desegregate the schools. He also ordered the complete desegregation of the Armed Forces. He Mamie Geneva Doud in 1916.

Casimir Pulaski (1745-1779) was a Polish nobleman, soldier, and military commander. Pulaski fought for the Continental Army during the American Revolution against the British and was nicknamed “The Father of the American Cavalry”. He was born in Warsaw, Poland and died in Thunderbolt Georgia at the age of 34 years old. Pulaski was exiled from Russia after supporting the cause of Polish-Lithuanian freedom. Through a recommendation from Benjamin Franklin, Pulaski came to America to support the fight for freedom against the British. He fought for freedom his entire life until he was fatally wounded at the Siege of Savannah during the Revolution. Pulaski was a trusted ally of George Washington, as seen by the multiple letters that were found written between them, and even saved his life when he led a skillful attack against the British which allowed Washington and his men to retreat as it looked like they were about to be defeated.

Captain Malcolm A. Rafferty (1861 - 1903) was a hero of the Battle of San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War. A Long Island City native, he returned home after the war and worked for the Barber Asphalt Company. He died of malaria in Trinidad in 1903.

Exterior view of the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library and Cooperman Plaza on the Queens College campus.

Lewis Mumford (1895 - 1990) was a literary critic, historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology and city planner, who was an expert on urban architecture and cities. Mumford was an original homeowner in Sunnyside Gardens, where he lived with his wife, Sophia, and their two children from 1927 to 1936, at 40-02 44th Street. Mumford was born in Flushing and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1912. He studied at the City College of New York and The New School for Social Research. Showing his early interest in utopianism, he wrote his first book at the age of 27, entitled, The Story of Utopias, where he argued that utopian literature could provide useful ideas for the present. Mumford had a broad career as a writer whose literary output consisted of over 20 books and thousands of articles and reviews. He was also the long-time architecture critic at The New Yorker magazine. In 1962, his book, The City in History, won the national book award for nonfiction. Mumford was arguably the most read and influential urbanist of the mid-20th century.

Edward Mandel (1869-1942) was an associate superintendent of the New York City schools. His family immigrated to the United States when he was young, settling in New York. He graduated from NYC public schools, City College at NYU and Teachers College at Columbia University. He also earned a law degree. He taught in city schools before becoming principal of several schools and eventually becoming Associate Superintendent of Schools from 1923 until his retirement in 1939. He helped develop educational policy and was founder of the teacher's pension system. He believed that vocational education was needed in public schools and that schools should teach "good citizenship." After his retirement he started a law practice with his son Austin. He lived in Forest Hills, Queens for much of his adult life and was a member of Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club.

John McHugh Sr. (1924 - 2019) Of Whitestone, Queens, was a decorated American World War II veteran who participated in the D-Day invasion, the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Bulge. Corporal John McHugh graduated from Morris Park High School in the Bronx in 1942 and enlisted in the army with his friends following Pearl Harbor. He was in the 1st Infantry Division, which arrived in landing craft at Omaha Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944. was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the European Theater of Operations Ribbon, Two Presidential Unit Citations, and Combat Infantry Badge and the Fort Eger given by Belgium. The State of New York placed him in its Veterans Hall of Fame. After the war, McHugh came back to Whitestone, married his childhood sweetheart Rosie McGee, and worked as a Transit Authority conductor.

Kalpana Chawla (1962 – 2003), was an Indian-born American astronaut and mechanical engineer who became the first Indian-born woman to go to space in 1997 on the Space Columbia Shuttle. She died on her second flight when the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere in 2003. Chawla was born on August 1, 1961 in Karnal, India. She graduated from Tangore School, India, and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree from Punjab Engineering College, a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado. Chawla began her career at NASA Ames Research Center in 1988. In December 1995, she was selected by NASA to be an astronaut candidate in the 15th Group of Astronauts. Her first flight was in November 1997. For her second Space Shuttle flight, she joined six other members of the crew on a 16-day flight on the Colombia Space Shuttle that departed Earth on January 17, 2003. Tragically, on February 1, 2003, 16 minutes before the scheduled landing, she and her crew perished. Kalpana Chawla remains the first person from India to go into space and a National hero.

Louis Windmuller (1835-1913) was a civic leader and businessman who summered in Woodside until his death. He was born in Westphalia Germany and emigrated to the United States at the age of 18. He began working in the banking industry and chartered several banks that served New York’s growing German immigrant population. Windmuller also helped found the German-American Insurance Company in response to the devastating fire that destroyed Chicago in 1871. Later in life Windmuller devoted his energies to civic service, becoming active with the Reform Club, the New-York Historical Society, the Legal Aid Society, the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Fiorello H. LaGuardia (1882–1947) was born in New York City to immigrant parents, attended public schools and graduated from New York University Law School in 1910. After practicing law for several years, he was elected as the nation’s first Italian American member of Congress in 1916. He served as a U.S. Representative until 1919, when he resigned to join the Army Air Service and serve in World War I. Upon his return, he was president of the New York City Board of Aldermen in 1920 and 1921, and was re-elected to Congress from 1923 to 1933. LaGuardia then served as mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1945. Among LaGuardia's many achievements as mayor, he is credited with unifying and modernizing New York City's public transit system, consolidating much of the city government, cracking down on illegal gambling, and beginning transportation projects that created many of the city’s bridges, tunnels, parkways and airports. He was also instrumental in the establishment of Queens College. In September 1937, Mayor LaGuardia broke ground on this airport's site. Its construction was funded through a $45 million Federal Works Progress Administration grant. More than half of the 558 acres on which the airport was built was man-made, filled in with more than 17 million cubic yards of cinders, ashes and trash. The new airport opened in 1939 as New York City Municipal Airport. In August 1940, the Board of Estimates renamed the facility for LaGuardia, who considered the project one of his greatest achievements. Today it is the third largest airport in the New York metropolitan area.

Klapper Hall as it appeared in the 1950s, then called the Paul Klapper Library.

Nancy Lucia Cataldi (1953- 2008) was a life-long Richmond Hill resident, co-founder and president of the Richmond Hill Historical Society, and the historian for Maple Grove Cemetery. She was an active preservationist for the Victorian-era homes in Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, and Kew Gardens, and succeeded in securing the special designation of the Queens Historical Society’s “Queensmarks” for twelve local homes, thereby preserving their architectural and historic value. Cataldi was a graduate of Richmond Hill High School and the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she studied photography, and worked as a photographer for the New York Rangers, Rolling Stone Magazine, the New York Times, and People Magazine.

Exterior of the Lewis H. Latimer House, 2018

In 1970, Iccey Elvalina Gibbs Newton (1939-1993) and her husband moved to Woodside where they raised four children. She helped form the Woodside Tenants Association and then worked for NYCHA for 20 years. She started tenant patrols in Woodside Houses and served as District Coordinator for the Girl Scouts of America. She served on Community Board 1 from 1991 until her death.

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.

Gaze up at the cupola atop this house, and you'll see where the original owner reportedly watched the police coming to arrest him for embezzlement in connection to his work with the infamous Tweed Ring. In 1867 and 1869, Daniel Eldridge, originally from Maine and then serving as a clerk in New York City’s Water Department, and his wife Abbie bought six lots of land from Charles and Libya Paulson on Greenwood Avenue (now 111th Street) in what was then known as Clarenceville. Even as more city-dwellers began to seek out Jamaica, Queens as a retreat from their urban lives, despite the proximity to a railroad station, by the late 1860s the area still held little development. This Italianate style house was completed by 1870, making it one of the few surviving mid-19th century residences in this area of Queens. Not much is known about Eldridge besides what was recorded in the 1870 census. At the time, a Water Department clerk was one of the many patronage jobs controlled by the corrupt political Boss Tweed (aka William Marcy Tweed) , who ran the city's government from 1866 to 1870. Reports say Eldridge was charged with embezzlement, and though the details are unclear, the rumor goes that he watched the police approach from the second floor of his home. In 1873, the Eldridge house and property were sold at auction, and there are no additional records of what became of Daniel or Abbie. More recently, the house has been renovated into a childcare facility and a school for the arts for children. The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission designated it a local landmark in 2011.

Mary D. Carter (1930-1988) was a community activist and longtime resident of the Boulevard Gardens apartment complex in Woodside. As Director of the Boulevard Gardens Tenants Association, she arranged entertainment for local children and trips for senior citizens living in the complex. Carter worked for Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro and was involved with the Liberty Democratic Club, the Police Athletic League of the 114th Precinct, the American Legion Auxiliary, the Lexington School for the Deaf, and the Corpus Christi School and Church. She was also active in the Girl Scouts, where she served as both a Brownie and Girl Scout Leader. She was married to the late Charles Carter and had four children. The renaming of P.S. 151 in honor of Carter was recommended by the school's Parent Association, which described her as "a perfect role model" for the school community.

Haym Salomon (1940-1785) was born in Leszno, Poland to a Jewish family. He immigrated to New York in 1772, where he worked as a businessman and financial broker. When the American Revolutionary War broke out, he strongly supported the patriots and joined the New York branch of the Sons of Liberty. He worked closely with Robert Morris, the Superintendent of Finance, and was the prime financier during the American Revolutionary War against Great Britain.

Kurt Richard Schmeller (1937-2022) was a historian, professor, and executive-level college administrator. He served as president of Queensborough Community College in Bayside from 1966 to 1999 and is among the longest-serving college presidents in the United States. Schmeller presided over a period of historic growth and change at Queensborough. Over his 32-year tenure, he established a strong business and technical curriculum, created programs in electrical and computer engineering, attracted new funders, and doubled enrollment to more than 10,000 students. Schmeller was born in Johnson City, New York, to parents Rudolph F. Schmeller, a civilian employee of the U.S. Army who later worked for a shoe manufacturer, and his German-born mother, Liska L. Schmeller, who worked for a department store. The second of three siblings, he moved with his family to Munich in 1947, where the Schmellers made their home before returning to upstate New York in 1953. He graduated from Binghamton Central High School in Binghamton, New York, going on to receive an undergraduate degree in European history from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, in 1959, and a Ph.D. in modern European history from Princeton University in 1962. While working as an assistant to the president and as a history professor at Wisconsin State University, he met his future wife, Beata (Sowka) Schmeller, a native of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. In 1967, at the age of 29, Schmeller was named as Queensborough Community College’s third president. He and Beata moved to Glen Cove, New York, where they made their home. During his presidency, Schmeller upheld academic standards while advocating for giving students who did not meet typical admission standards a chance to attend college. In response, Queensborough’s College Discovery Program launched strong support efforts, including counseling, remedial courses, tutoring, and other academic assistance. In 1969, Schmeller blocked the reappointment of English professor Dr. Ronald Silberman, an openly Marxist scholar, citing budget cuts. Some critics argued Schmeller’s decision was politically motivated, and the act resulted in a period of student protests around this issue and other pressing societal and cultural tensions. Despite these early challenges, Schmeller oversaw many changes at the College, including the construction of nine new buildings, and the founding of the Queensborough Community College Art Gallery, the Holocaust Center (now the Kupferberg Holocaust Center), and the Port of Entry program. The first of its kind in the U.S., this program was designed to enhance cultural orientation for international students at Queensborough, particularly those from China. In addition to his work for the College, Schmeller was active in local community affairs, serving as chairman of the board of The Flushing Cemetery Association, as well as chairman of the City of Glen Cove School Board, and as president of Queens Council of the Boy Scouts of America. At the time of his death in 2022, he was survived by his wife, Beata, their three children, Rudolph, Sylvie, and Jesse, and four grandchildren. The main campus library at Queensborough Community College, located at 22-05 56th Avenue, was named in his honor as the Kurt R. Schmeller Library.

Paul A. Vallone (1967-2024) was an attorney and civic leader whose political career in the service of northeastern Queens and New York City was cut short when he died of a heart attack on January 28, 2024, at the age of 56. Part of a noted Queens political family, Vallone served as City Council member for District 19 from 2014 to 2021, and then as deputy commissioner of external affairs for the New York City Department of Veterans' Services from 2022 to 2024. His grandfather, Charles J. Vallone, was a judge in Queens County Civil Court. Both his father, Peter Vallone Sr., and his brother, Peter Vallone Jr., represented Astoria on the City Council, from 1974 to 2001 and 2002 to 2013 respectively, making for a 47-year run of City Council service by the Vallone family. Born on June 2, 1967, and raised in Astoria, Vallone attended high school at St. John's Preparatory School, graduated from Fordham University, and received his law degree from St. John's University. He was admitted to the New York and New Jersey Bar Associations in 1992. Prior to his political career, he was a managing partner at his family’s general practice law firm, Vallone and Vallone LLD, which was founded in 1932 by his grandfather. Vallone moved from Astoria to northeast Queens and, failing in a bid for City Council office in 2009, he followed in his family’s footsteps in 2014 when he won the District 19 seat. He was known as an advocate and champion for the Queens communities he served. During his tenure, he sponsored 800 pieces of legislation — 128 of which he was the first primary sponsor — and was credited with fundraising nearly $40 million in funding for his district. He was at the forefront of adopting participatory budgeting, which allows constituents the opportunity to vote for and prioritize the capital projects they want funded by their councilmember’s office. As Vallone shared with the Queens Daily Eagle in 2021, “It was a beautiful way to create community involvement in your own tax dollars.” Vallone was dedicated to supporting students and seniors in his district. While on the council, he helped expand school capacity by 4,500 seats and reinstated the New York City Council Merit Scholarship, known as the Peter F. Vallone Academic Scholarship, awarding high school graduates up to $350 per semester. He also helped to launch a free transit service for northeast Queens seniors. In addition, he spearheaded a project that brought $3.6 million in improvements to Flushing’s Bowne Park. The work was completed in the spring of 2023 and included upgrades to the playground, pond, plaza, and bocce court. In his time on the City Council, he also advocated for the creation of animal shelters in every borough. The Paul A. Vallone Queens Animal Care Center, located at 1906 Flushing Avenue in Ridgewood, is the first public animal shelter in Queens, and a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 10, 2024, served as the official opening. The shelter is run by Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC), a nonprofit that operates the city’s animal shelters on behalf of the Health Department. Vallone was a champion of ACC and its mission to end animal homelessness in New York City. As a strong advocate for veterans, Vallone voted as a city council member in favor of a measure that established the New York City Department of Veterans' Services in 2016, making it the first City agency in the country dedicated to serving veterans and their families. After his tenure on the city council ended due to term limits in 2021, Vallone lost a bid for a Civil Court seat in eastern Queens. But he continued his public service in 2022, when Mayor Eric Adams appointed him as deputy commissioner of external affairs for the new Department of Veterans' Services. Vallone held that role until his death in 2024. In addition to his government work, Vallone was active in his Flushing community as a soccer coach for St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy, winning two championships for the school, and also coaching his two daughters, Lea and Catena, and his son Charlie (Charles J. Vallone III). Vallone was survived by his wife, Anna-Marie, and three children. Two other city locations are named in Vallone’s honor. They include Paul A. Vallone Way, at the intersection of 157th Street and 32nd Avenue in Flushing, and the Paul Vallone Community Campus at 18-25 212th Street in Bay Terrace, an addition to P.S. 169 Bay Terrace School and Bell Academy.

Clement Clarke Moore (1779–1863) was a professor of Oriental and Greek literature at New York's General Theological Seminary from 1823 to 1850. He also donated a large piece of land that he had inherited, located in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, to the seminary. The Moore family was among the earliest settlers of Elmhurst, Queens, having been granted 80 acres there in the mid-1600s. Prior to the colonization of Elmhurst, the land was considered part of the Canarsie and Munsee Lenape territories. The Moore Homestead, built by Captain Samuel Moore of the Newtown militia, lasted from 1661 to 1933. The Moore family intermarried with many other colonial families in the area. Clement Moore spent much of his childhood at the family estate in Newtown. P.S. 13 in Elmhurst is also named in Moore's honor. Clement Clarke Moore was born and raised in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. He wrote on a variety of topics but is best known today as the author of the enduringly popular Christmas poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas." The poem was first published anonymously in 1823, and there has been debate over its true authorship. Many scholars believe it was actually written by Henry Livingston, Jr., but decisive proof has been elusive. The poem became a classic popularly known as "The Night Before Christmas” and brought the idea of Santa Claus to mainstream culture. It's been said that Moore was inspired to write the poem for his grandchildren by regaling them in the nostalgic times of his youth, where he would visit family at their ancestral property. Though he never lived there, when he would visit, he stayed at one of the outlier homes - where the 80-20 Broadway apartment building now stands. Moore died in Newport, Rhode Island in 1863.

Ethel Plimack (1910 - 2018) Lived on her block in Sunnyside, Queens from 1941 until 2018, when she passed away at age 107. Plimack worked for more than 40 years with the NYC Board of Education until she was 70, and then took an administrative job at Marymount Manhattan College until she was 96 years-old. She was active in the community and served as treasurer and secretary of her block association, Washington Court, and was also heavily involved in gaining landmark status for Sunnyside Gardens. Ethel was an exceptional knitter, making many hundreds of sweaters, hats and scarves for family and friends. In her younger years, she was an avid folk dancer, traveling the world to learn new dances and meet others who shared her passion for dance. A legend in Sunnyside, she received recognition from local elected officials and former President Barack Obama.

Marguerite Henderson was very dedicated to her family, seniors and the East Elmhurst community. She attended P.S. 127 in East Elmhurst and went to I.S. 145, Newtown High School, and graduated from LaGuardia Community College. She was a member of Mt. Olivet Church where she was an active choir member. She joined the First Baptist Church and became an active member of the church’s trustee ministry. She was also involved in the East Elmhurst Community Board. She was dedicated to the families and seniors in East Elmhurst, ensuring they had food and resources as part of the First Baptist Church food pantry ministry. From organizing and executing back-to-school giveaways and toy and coat drives during the holidays, to serving thousands of families on a weekly basis before and during the height of the pandemic, she was truly dedicated to her community. She also assisted many families financially, helping with bills, rent, food and shopping for their children. She spent hours talking to teenagers and counseling the neighborhood youth who were at risk of heading in the wrong direction. She was very protective of her family, specifically her children and grandchildren. Everyone on 96th Street and the East Elmhurst/Corona community knew Marguerite and was often affectionately called all sorts of nicknames by her loved ones and friends: Margret, Ursel, Big Marg, Gangsta Boo, Boo Thang, Baby Cakes, Ma, “Reet,” Babe, Mama Marguerite, sweet sweet Marguerite, Gramma and the East Elmhurst General. She was steadfast in her commitment and thanks to her dedication, many families had food on the table, coats for the winter, school supplies for their children, and most of all her love showing them that Marguerite had their back, especially throughout one of the worst pandemics of recent times.

Officer Vitale and and Officer Abruzzo were two police officers, both assigned to the 109th Precinct in Flushing, who died in the line of duty. Officer Vitale was killed on December 24, 1980 and Officer Abruzzo less than a year later, on December 16, 1981.

Rufus King (1755-1827) was a distinguished lawyer, statesman and gentleman farmer. The son of a wealthy lumber merchant from Maine, King graduated from Harvard in 1777, served in the Revolutionary War in 1778, and was admitted to the bar in Massachusetts in 1780. He was a member of the Confederation Congress from 1784 to 1787, where he introduced a plan that prevented the spread of slavery into the Northwest Territories. King was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and made his most famous contribution to American history as a framer and signer of the U.S. Constitution. After his marriage to Mary Alsop in 1786, King relocated to New York and was appointed to the first U.S. Senate, serving from 1789 to 1796 and again from 1813 to 1825. An outspoken opponent of slavery, he led the Senate debates in 1819 and 1820 against the admission of Missouri as a slave state. King served as Minister Plenipotentiary to Great Britain from 1796 to 1803 and again from 1825 to 1826. In 1816 he was the last Federalist to run for the presidency, losing the election to James Monroe. In 1805, King purchased a farmhouse and 90-acre farm in Jamaica for $12,000. He planted orchards, fields and some of the stately oak trees that still survive near the house in the park. By the time of his death in 1827, the estate had grown to 122 acres. Cornelia King, granddaughter of Rufus, was the last family member to occupy the house. After her death in 1896, the house and the remaining 11 acres were bought by the Village of Jamaica for $50,000. The village was absorbed into City of New York in 1898, and the property came under the jurisdiction of the Parks Department.

Bishop James Ferguson (1925 – 2018) Began working with the community organization Elmcor Youth and Adult Center in the East Elmhurst/Corona neighborhood, starting with the Junior Choir caroling in front of Elmcor during the Christmas of 1982. The then “Rev” James Ferguson began an outreach ministry consisting of twice weekly bible study and monthly outreach every fourth Sunday, which helped many local residents deal with issues such as drug addiction and instability. He also initiated and sponsored the Corona East Elmhurst Clergy Association (CEECA). CEECA is a monthly meeting that addresses troublesome activity within the Corona, East Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights communities that were brought to the attention of the clergy by the local police precinct. Bishop James is credited with implementing the Gospel Explosion, which is an outdoor event where various churches worship in front of their church conveying the same message to the community at a set time during the month of July. He is also responsible for implementation of the Gospel Crusade which is an event held during the month of August near or on Junction Boulevard with a Health Fair component to meet the needs of the community.

Denis P. Gorman (1903-1963) was a civic leader devoted to providing recreational facilities for the youth of Queens. Through Gorman’s efforts, the City acquired this parkland, and today the playground honors his memory. Gorman also helped to bring franchised bus service to Jackson Heights in 1932. As the Chairman of the Youth Activities Committee he helped to build 20 Little League baseball fields in five months. He was head of the Elmjack Little League for ten years and was a founding member of local youth councils. Gorman also served as the Democratic District Leader of Jackson Heights. After a lifetime spent serving his city, Gorman died in August, 1963.