Queens Public Library’s Queens Memory Project, in partnership with Urban Archive, is proud to present The Stories Behind Their Names: Queens Women in Action, a community-centered public history exhibition at Culture Lab LIC, 5-25 46th Ave, Long Island City, honoring women whose names are woven into our public landscape and whose stories are integral to the making of Queens. Open through March 29 to coincide with Women’s History Month, the exhibition invites visitors to consider how history lives in our neighborhoods––on the streets, schools, parks, and buildings we pass every day, often without knowing the stories they hold.
Drawing from the Queens Name Explorer project, this exhibition honors the democratic power of participatory archiving by including photographs shared by families, oral histories recorded with neighbors, and records shared across generations. These materials reflect a collaborative approach to history-making, where community members are not just subjects of history, but active stewards of it. Locations featured in the exhibit can also be found in a special Name Explorer curated collection. From Long Island City to Jamaica to the northeastern corner of Queens, the exhibition highlights a diverse group of women whose contributions reshaped neighborhoods and paved the way for a more sustainable future. The women featured here are educators, activists, journalists, public servants, artists, and community advocates, many of them breaking barriers in race, gender, class, and language to create systems of change central to thriving communities.
The opening reception for the exhibit will be held on Thursday, Feb. 5, from 6 to 9 pm.
Drawing from the Queens Name Explorer project, this exhibition honors the democratic power of participatory archiving by including photographs shared by families, oral histories recorded with neighbors, and records shared across generations.