Queens Local History Collection

The Local History Collection contains materials from the 1800s though present day and consists of +1,800 folders across twelve document series, approximately 4,500 photographs, about 100 videos, 190 plus Artifacts, and nearly 165 Oral Histories. The bulk of the records document the social, political, and economic history of the City borough of Queens in the 20th century. Though most of the material covers the history of Queens, some does to pertain to other boroughs. The twelve document series consist of: The papers of New York State Senator Serphin Maltese; The Papers of New York State Assemblyman Saul Weprin; The Papers of Borough Presidents , , and Helen Marshall; The World’s Fair (1939 and 1964-5); Settlement House (containing the papers of the Forest Hills Community House and Sunnyside Community Services); Oversized Map Case Collection; Local Residents (consisting of the Aida-Gonzalez-Jarrin Donation, Charlie Walters Donation, Correspondence, Ford Instrument Co., Maxwell K. Nelson Donation, Working Papers from the Asian-American Center, and Queens College); LaGuardia Community College Student Papers; and the Amsterdam News (on microfilm). The folders in these series can be searched using the Advanced Search button on the Queens Local History Collection webpage. The records include reports, correspondence, surveys, news-clippings, press releases, certificates, maps, and campaign literature. The LaGuardia and Wagner Archives holds microfilm copy of only a portion of the Saul Weprin Collection, consisting of a selection of the Press and Photographs Files Series (4 folders of local news-clippings, and 322 photographs) and the entire Subject Files District Office Sub-Series. The complete Saul Weprin Collection, including the original documents, are housed at the Queens College Special Collections and Archives, Flushing, NY. The photograph series and the video series depict and describe life throughout , with many of the images covering Queens in the 20th century. The collection reveals transportation, leisure, work, and family life in Queens as it transformed from a rural county in the late-19th century to the urban borough of today. Western Queens areas of Astoria, , and Woodside are particularly well documented. A Collection of (+1,000) LGBTQ photographs was added to the Queens Local History Photograph Collection in 2016, in the main, part of the Collection, which resides within the Archives’ LBGTQ Collection The Queens Local History Artifact Collection consists of a variety of pieces of memorabilia donated by individuals and organizations. Among the items are campaign buttons, ballots and bumper stickers, equipment from the Ford Instrument Company, large maps of Queens and materials from the 1939-40 and 1964-65 World's Fairs at Flushing Meadows. The Oral History Collection consists of interviews of local Queens residents, mostly recorded in the late 1970s and 1980s. Topics range from ethnic traditions to discussion with former employees of the various factories in the area. Since 1984, the Archives has also collected student projects completed by LaGuardia Community College Students documenting the neighborhoods of Queens and in which the students reside through various forms of media. This Collection also includes interviews with Borough Presidents Claire Shulman and Helen Marshall, as well as with City Council Members Daniel Dromm, and Jimmy Van Bramer regarding their participation on the LGBTQ Civil Rights movement. Researchers should also consult the New York City Housing Authority Collection and the Steinway & Sons Collection at the Archives. Both of these collections contain materials on the history of Queens.