Events

JULIO DOCUMENTARY

The story of Julio Rivera by documentary filmmaker Richard Shpuntoff. Bronx-born Puerto Rican Julio Rivera was murdered in a schoolyard in Jackson Heights, Queens on July 2, 1990, by three young men looking to "clean up" their neighbourhood, but instead the murder sparked the coming out of New York’s largest and until then most closeted LGBTQ community. JULIO OF JACKSON HEIGHTS is the story of how all this changed. It is the story of how a handful of people – Julio’s friends and family – decided that they would not accept the official police report, and learned how to organize, ultimately bringing their case to the attention of then NYC Mayor Dinkins. The movement has given birth to dozens of LGBTQ organizations and advocacy groups, the Queens Pride Parade which was the first LGBTQ pride parade in one of the “outer” boroughs of New York City, and ultimately it served as the platform for electing Queens’ first two openly gay candidates to the New York City Council.

Sunday

March 3rd, 2024

2:30 pm

JULIO REVISITED

Born and raised in Elmhurst, Richard Shpuntoff was the official photographer of Queens Pride for its first 20 years (1993 - 2012). In 2016, he completed the feature length documentary film Julio of Jackson Heights, about the 1990 gay bashing murder of Julio Rivera, and its enormous impact LGBTQIA+ organizing in Queens, that directly led to the creation of the Queens Pride Parade. The film premiered at the Queens World Film Festival where it won the Social Impact Award. He has received funding support from the Queens Council on the Arts for various projects in support of the Queens Pride Committee's work on building awareness and understanding of the history of Queens Pride and the Queens LGBTQ community, and in 2016 I was awarded a "Special Honor for Service to the LGBTIQ Community of Queens for over two decades documenting and narrating the history of the community’s struggle" by the Queens Borough President. His most recent film, Everything that is Forgotten in an Instant, had its New York premiere at the documentary film festival of MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art).

Saturday

February 24th, 2024

2:30 pm

Holiday Poetry Slam and Musical Jam

Come to Kingsland Homestead on Saturday, December 16th from 1pm until 5pm for the soothing acoustic guitar and flute music of Stephen C. Josephs and Glen Flax.  And then join us from 3pm until 5pm for the poetry of David Mills. Stephen C. Josephs and Glen Flax will perform music with a holiday theme. Also, if you are looking for the perfect gift or stocking stuffer books in our gift shop will be available for 20 percent off and additional 10 percent for Queens Historical Society members.  Poet David Mills has also appeared at Flushing Town Hall and is the writer of the audio script for Reflections in Black:100 Years of Black Photography, a photography exhibition which was shown at the Whitney Museum and Dallas Museum. Mr. Mills has recorded his poetry on ESPN and RCA Records and has had poems displayed at the Venice Biennale.  Poetry will spotlight Trumpeter Louis Armstrong, Tuskegee Airman Harry Stewart Jr., and George Johnson the country's first recording star who recorded for Thomas Edison's record company.

Saturday

December 16th, 2023

1:00 pm

36th Annual Holly Tour

The annual Holly Tour is back! The historic holiday house tour is an annual tradition featuring an afternoon of holiday cheer and historic tours. For this year’s 36th Annual Holly Tour, visitors will explore four historic sites in Flushing including the Voelker Orth Museum, the John Bowne House, Kingsland Homestead and Quaker Meeting House. The event will take place on Sunday, December 10th from 1pm until 5pm. Each house will be providing its own libations and entertainment. Come take a trip through colonial and Victorian era Queens with the annual Holly House Tour. 

Sunday

December 10th, 2023

1:00 pm

The History of Northern Boulevard/Route 25A

Join us for an entertaining program about the history of Northern Boulevard!

Remembering the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: 60th Anniversary

Join us at the Queens Historical Society on Saturday November 18th for a special documentary screening of 'Three Shots That Changed America'.

Making Long Island with author Lawrence R. Samuel 

Join us at the Kingsland Homestead for a book talk with author Laurence R. Samuel

Queens Walking Tour in Jamaica, Queens with Adrienne Onofri

Join Queens Historical Society NYC tour guide Adrienne Onofri for an exciting tour of this historic neighborhood.

Open House NYC 2023 at Queens Historical Society

Join us at the Kingsland Homestead for the annual OpenHouseNYC 2023. Explore the headquarters of the Queens Historical Society as well as Weeping Beech Park and the 176 year old Weeping Beech Tree. Admission is free and the guided tours run from 1pm until 5pm on Saturday October 21st. 

Our Laundry, Our Town With Alvin Eng

Our Laundry, Our Town is a memoir that decodes and processes the fractured urban oracle bones of Alvin Eng’s upbringing in Flushing, Queens, in the 1970s. Back then, his family was one of the few immigrant Chinese families in a far-flung neighborhood in New York City. His parents had an arranged marriage and ran a Chinese hand laundry. From behind the counter of his parents’ laundry and within the confines of a household that was rooted in a different century and culture, he sought to reconcile this insular home life with the turbulent yet inspiring street life that was all around them––from the faux martial arts of TV’s Kung Fu to the burgeoning underworld of the punk rock scene. In the 1970s, NYC, like most of the world, was in the throes of regenerating itself in the wake of major social and cultural changes resulting from the counterculture and civil rights movements. And by the 1980s, Flushing had become NYC’s second Chinatown. But Eng remained one of the neighborhood’s few Chinese citizens who did not speak fluent Chinese. Finding his way in the downtown theater and performance world of Manhattan, he discovered the under-chronicled Chinese influence on Thornton Wilder’s foundational Americana drama, Our Town. This discovery became the unlikely catalyst for a psyche-healing pilgrimage to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China—his ancestral home in southern China—that led to writing and performing his successful autobiographical monologue, The Last Emperor of Flushing. Learning to tell his own story on stages around the world was what proudly made him whole.

Long Island City in 1776 with Author Richard Melnick

The program begins at 6pm at the Historic Kingsland Homestead home of the Queens Historical Society! Queens Historical Society is proud to present the amazing artwork of a local Flushing artist - Abraham. This is a free event! Light Refreshments Will be Served! Abraham was born on March 14, 1975 Hunan province China. He is an accomplished painter. He developed his artistic talents and earned his degree from the Hunan Art Institute in 1994. His creative portfolio extends to oil, watercolor, acrylic, and wood painting, as well as ink and pencil drawings. In 2014, he immigrated from China to Atlanta, Georgia where he exhibited his artwork in the Sedgwick Gallery and successfully sold his first painting. He was also awarded a certificate of commendation by the County of Bergen on June 2017. He respects and appreciates traditional aesthetics and values. he explores the beauty of mankind and the profound spirit of the universe in his work and hopes to evoke a sense of awakening and powerful energy in viewers, leading towards inner peace and freedom.

Celebrating Casa and Su Casa Programs 2023

Celebrating Casa and Su Casa Programs 2023

Queens Walking Tour in St. Albans with Joseph Landon

Join professional NYC tour guide Joseph Landon of JoJo’s Ventures for an exciting tour of this historic neighborhood.

The History of the Long Island Rail Road Port Washington Branch

Slideshow lecture with Rail Road Historian David M. Morrison Thursday July 20th at 7pm at the Queens Historical Society $7 General Admission, $5 for seniors Copies of his book will be available for purchase!