Photo Courtesy Ken Harris, Jamaica, NY circa 1975

Queens Memory collects personal histories, photographs and other records of contemporary life in Queens, New York.

Queens Name Explorer

The Name Explorer project seeks to enrich local history by increasing knowledge of individuals honored with named places in Queens – its streets, monuments, schools, parks, and buildings. This ongoing project creates a dynamic living archive, while enhancing awareness of communities not represented or underrepresented in our borough. To date, 1,300+ named places have been identified, and 1040+ of them are live on the Name Explorer map.


But your help is needed. The map still has many entries lacking information and photographs. If you can add info, an anecdote, and/or photograph, please do so by clicking the blue “Add/Edit” button in the top right corner. See a street named after a member of your community not currently on the map? Or a sign that needs maintenance and restoration? Add/Edit to let us know!

Gail Marquis Oral History

Queens College alumna Gail Marquis is a history-making figure in the world of women’s sports. As a student at Queens College, she played for the school’s nationally ranked women’s basketball team, which in 1975 became the first women’s team to play basketball in Madison Square Garden. During her senior year, Marquis tried out and qualified for the USA National Team and represented the United States at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal – the first Olympic Games in which women’s basketball was played. In this interview, Marquis shares her recollections of growing up in St. Albans, her decision to attend Queens College to play for renowned basketball coach Lucille Kyvallos, and her path to making the USA Women's Olympic Basketball Team.

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Listen to the Queens Memory Podcast

Season Three of the Queens Memory Podcast is coming soon! In this season, “Our Major Minor Voices,” we feature stories from our neighbors of Asian descent in Queens, New York.  New episodes will air each Monday, starting April 11th 2022. Click Here to listen to the trailer for the season, and to hear to new episodes, as they are released. To hear Season One of the Queens Memory Podcast, Memories of Migration, Click Here. Season One features Queens residents who moved from all over the world over the past century to settle in the “World’s Borough”. To hear Season Two of the Queens Memory Podcast, The Borough We Became: Queens Residents on Life during COVID-19, Click Here. Season Two features interviews with Queens residents and highlighted sound and video contributions to our COVID-19 Project as the pandemic unfolded.

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