Greater Astoria Historical Society
Encyclopedia
The Greater Astoria Historical Society (GAHS) is a non-profit cultural and historical organization located in Astoria, Queens
, New York, dedicated to preserving the past and promoting the future of the neighborhoods that are part of historic Long Island City, including; the Village of Astoria
, Blissville, Bowery Bay, Dutch Kills, Hunters Point
, Ravenswood
, Steinway Village
and Sunnyside
.
in 1898. In a borough well-known for its diverse population (some 138 languages are spoken in Queens), the Long Island City / Astoria area is home to more than 350,000 people. A primary goal of the GAHS is to foster a positive sense of community pride and identity through an understanding of history for all residents, both newly arrived immigrants and long time residents.
and the piano factory Steinway & Sons
. The Greater Astoria Historical Society sponsors an annual Haunted Waters Walking Tour along the East River
in Long Island City as part of the Socrates Sculpture Park
's Halloween Harvest Festival. The Greater Astoria Historical Society's most recent program, the Winged Fist Project, is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Irish American Athletic Club
, an amateur athletic organization that was active in Long Island City in the first two decades of the 20th century.
, New York and surrounding areas from the now defunct Belcher Hyde map company among others. The holdings also include an almost complete run (or the morgue file
) of the Long Island Star Journal, "a daily paper that informed the community about local and world news until it folded in 1968. A banner across the Star-Journal masthead reminded readers that the newspaper's name came from the merger of the Long Island Daily Star (1876) and the North Shore Daily Journal—The Flushing Journal (1841)."
s and include the works of notable Queens historians Vincent F. Seyfried
and Frank Carrado, informally known as the "Mayor of Long Island City." The GAHS has published hundreds of these photos in their books, and has scanned thousands of images. More than 3,000 of these images are available online through the Astoria History Project. The GAHS also has an extensive collection of images relating to the history of the East River
, which can be viewed at East River NYC.
, George Stamatiades, and others helped to get a hearse from Quinn's funeral home, whose historical background is Irish Catholic
, to save the synagogue stone," and relocate it to the Greater Astoria Historical Society.
, where legendary jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke
, "the remote and mysterious jazz cornettist... died in obscurity."
, New York. A number of community groups use the Greater Astoria Historical Society offices for meetings, including; Astoria Music Society, Astoria Performing Arts Center, Central Astoria Development Coalition, Greenshores New York, Queens Council on the Arts, and Transportation Alternatives
.
in Queens. The GAHS also compiles a weekly column for the Queens Gazette, summarizing historical articles from the Long Island Star Journal, a newspaper that chronicled life in Queens, from the 1840s until 1968.
Astoria, Queens
Astoria is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Sunnyside , and Woodside...
, New York, dedicated to preserving the past and promoting the future of the neighborhoods that are part of historic Long Island City, including; the Village of Astoria
Astoria, Queens
Astoria is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Sunnyside , and Woodside...
, Blissville, Bowery Bay, Dutch Kills, Hunters Point
Hunters Point, Queens
Hunters Point is a neighborhood on the south side of Long Island City, in the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 2.- History :...
, Ravenswood
Ravenswood, Queens
Ravenswood is the name for the strip of land bordering the East River in Long Island City, in the New York City borough of Queens. The area is part of Queens Community Board 1.-History:...
, Steinway Village
Ditmars, Queens
Ditmars is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. Ditmars is in northwestern Queens bounded by Bowery Bay to the north, LaGuardia Airport to the east, 23rd Avenue to the south and the East River on the west. The neighborhood is often considered to be within Astoria...
and Sunnyside
Sunnyside, Queens
Sunnyside is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens, in New York state, in the United States. It shares borders with Hunters Point and Long Island City to the west, Astoria to the north, Woodside to the east and Maspeth to the south...
.
Mission
The mission of the Greater Astoria Historical Society, founded in 1985, is to discover, procure and preserve the history of historic Long Island City, which was incorporated into the City of Greater New YorkCity of Greater New York
The City of Greater New York was a term commonly used originally to refer to the expanded city created on January 1, 1898 by the incorporation into the city of Richmond County, Kings County, Queens County, and the eastern part of what is now called The Bronx...
in 1898. In a borough well-known for its diverse population (some 138 languages are spoken in Queens), the Long Island City / Astoria area is home to more than 350,000 people. A primary goal of the GAHS is to foster a positive sense of community pride and identity through an understanding of history for all residents, both newly arrived immigrants and long time residents.
Programs
The Greater Astoria Historical Society’s “Long Island City Forum” is a multi-faceted program that includes lectures, video presentations, walking tours, exhibits and programs designed for local schools to increase awareness of Long Island City history. Regular tours include the East RiverEast River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
and the piano factory Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...
. The Greater Astoria Historical Society sponsors an annual Haunted Waters Walking Tour along the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
in Long Island City as part of the Socrates Sculpture Park
Socrates Sculpture Park
Socrates Sculpture Park is an outdoor exhibition space for sculpture. It is located one block from the Noguchi Museum at the intersection of Broadway and Vernon Boulevard in the neighborhood of Long Island City, Queens, New York City...
's Halloween Harvest Festival. The Greater Astoria Historical Society's most recent program, the Winged Fist Project, is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Irish American Athletic Club
Irish American Athletic Club
The Irish American Athletic Club was an amateur athletic organization, based in Queens, New York at the beginning of the 20th Century.-Early years:...
, an amateur athletic organization that was active in Long Island City in the first two decades of the 20th century.
Collections
The holdings of the Greater Astoria Historical Society, on loan and owned, include a collection of rare and unusual items available for public perusal. The GAHS maintains a Library/Research Center that contains over 10,000 items, including books and publications on local history, a photographic record of the community, and neighborhood ephemera and memorabilia. The GAHS holdings include dozens of antiquarian atlases and thousands of historic maps of QueensQueens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, New York and surrounding areas from the now defunct Belcher Hyde map company among others. The holdings also include an almost complete run (or the morgue file
Morgue file
A morgue file originally was the paper-folders containing old files and notes that were kept by criminal investigators, and old article clippings kept by newspaper reporters, in case they became of later use as a quick-reference....
) of the Long Island Star Journal, "a daily paper that informed the community about local and world news until it folded in 1968. A banner across the Star-Journal masthead reminded readers that the newspaper's name came from the merger of the Long Island Daily Star (1876) and the North Shore Daily Journal—The Flushing Journal (1841)."
Historic Photos
The Greater Astoria Historical Society actively solicits the donation of photographic images related to Queens history. The GAHS holdings include thousands of black and white photographs, photographic slides, glass negatives and tintypeTintype
Tintype, also melainotype and ferrotype, is a photograph made by creating a direct positive on a sheet of iron metal that is blackened by painting, lacquering or enamelling and is used as a support for a collodion photographic emulsion....
s and include the works of notable Queens historians Vincent F. Seyfried
Vincent F. Seyfried
Vincent F. Seyfried is a highly prolific historian of Long Island. His magnum opus is the seven-volume The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, published over a period of over two decades. Seyfried is also known for histories of Queens neighborhoods as well as towns and villages further...
and Frank Carrado, informally known as the "Mayor of Long Island City." The GAHS has published hundreds of these photos in their books, and has scanned thousands of images. More than 3,000 of these images are available online through the Astoria History Project. The GAHS also has an extensive collection of images relating to the history of the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
, which can be viewed at East River NYC.
Preservation
When possible, the Greater Astoria Historical Society attempts to acquire and preserve artifacts of historical significance to Queens. The GAHS played an important role "in saving the cornerstone of Congregation Mishkan Israel, the third oldest temple in Queens. It had been sitting near (a sidewalk in Queens) until a Greek AmericanGreek American
Greek Americans are Americans of Greek descent also described as Hellenic descent. According to the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimation, there were 1,380,088 people of Greek ancestry in the United States, while the State Department mentions that around 3,000,000 Americans claim to be of Greek descent...
, George Stamatiades, and others helped to get a hearse from Quinn's funeral home, whose historical background is Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
, to save the synagogue stone," and relocate it to the Greater Astoria Historical Society.
Historical plaques
The Greater Astoria Historical Society has a historical plaque program, which designates noteworthy locations in Queens. The GAHS has erected a plaque on the apartment building at 43-30, 46th Street, in Sunnyside, QueensSunnyside, Queens
Sunnyside is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens, in New York state, in the United States. It shares borders with Hunters Point and Long Island City to the west, Astoria to the north, Woodside to the east and Maspeth to the south...
, where legendary jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
, "the remote and mysterious jazz cornettist... died in obscurity."
Facilities
The Greater Astoria Historical Society offices in the historic Quinn Memorial Building on the corner of Broadway and 36th Street in Astoria include a 2000 square feet (185.8 m²) exhibit space for both permanent and rotating exhibits of topical interest to the community. The GAHS, which is affiliated with the Queens Tourism Council, maintains a tourist information booth outside its office and provides free maps and pamphlets to visitors looking to explore the history of QueensQueens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, New York. A number of community groups use the Greater Astoria Historical Society offices for meetings, including; Astoria Music Society, Astoria Performing Arts Center, Central Astoria Development Coalition, Greenshores New York, Queens Council on the Arts, and Transportation Alternatives
Transportation Alternatives
Transportation Alternatives is a non-profit organization in New York City which seeks to change New York City's transportation priorities to encourage and increase non-polluting, quiet, city-friendly travel and decrease private car use...
.
Publications
In collaboration with local historians, the Greater Astoria Historical Society has authored or co-authored four books on the history of Queens: Long Island City, Postcards of Long Island City, The East River, and The Queensboro Bridge. The GAHS has also published a free map that includes popular walking tours along the East RiverEast River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
in Queens. The GAHS also compiles a weekly column for the Queens Gazette, summarizing historical articles from the Long Island Star Journal, a newspaper that chronicled life in Queens, from the 1840s until 1968.