Queens Historical Society

Non-profit OrganizationsUnited States2-10 Employees

Founded in 1968 as a not-for-profit organization, the Queens Historical Society (QHS) is the largest and most active historical society in the borough and the only one with a borough-wide scope and impact. It promotes and provides assistance for research into social, political, and economic aspects of Queens history and documents the constant changes that continue to shape the borough. It maintains an archive and library of primary and secondary sources of historical information for students, historians and the public. 

The organization was founded when a group of concerned citizens and local preservationists joined together to save the historic Kingsland Homestead in Flushing from being demolished. The group, the Kingsland Preservation Committee, would evolve into the Queens Historical Society in the 1970’s. QHS also later became a repository for the former Flushing Historical Society and their collection, as well as the photo collection of the Flushing Garden Club and the Flushing Council Women’s Organization. Today, QHS offers programs geared to a range of ages from elementary school students to senior citizens. Historical, cultural, and artistic aspects of the borough are explored through exhibitions and outreach programs including slide lectures, panel discussions, tours, and concerts. QHS stocks and offers a catalog of history-related publications available for sale as well as other items of historic and cultural interest, QHS also publishes a quarterly newsletter. 

QHS owns and maintains the Kingsland Homestead, a late 18th-century Long Island Half-House style structure that is honored as being the first New York City landmark in Queens County. It is located in the historic Weeping Beech Park in Flushing, Queens. In addition to changing exhibitions, a period room displays furnishings of the Victorian era. QHS also owns and maintains the landmark Moore-Jackson Cemetery in Woodside, a rare surviving Colonial-era family burial ground established circa 1733.

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