Maple Grove celebrates African American Heritage

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and the Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center is sponsoring an afternoon of tribute to African American Heritage in a series of programs scheduled for Saturday, April 29, at the entrance gate of Maple Grove Cemetery, 83-15 Kew Gardens Road in Kew Gardens.
The afternoon includes a hands-on quilting demonstration sponsored by the Quilt-N-Queens Guild of Jamaica. Participants will explore the history of quilt making. Everyone will have the opportunity to work on a mini quilting project to take home. Participants will also construct a large quilt that will appear in the new center built by Maple Grove Cemetery.
There will also be book signings by authors and artists. Illustrator Hudson Talbott will sign copies of the award winning “Show Way,” written by Jacqueline Woodson, a children’s book that details the lives of seven generations of girls and women who were quilt makers, artists and freedom fighters.
The authors of “Friends of Freedom, Underground Railroad in Queens and Long Island,” and “Road to Freedom-the Underground Railroad, New York and Beyond,” will be on hand to sign copies of these two historical books.
A walking tour, led by historians Nancy Cataldi and Carl Ballenas of the Richmond Hill Historical Society, will take place as well. They will talk about the notable African Americans authors, musicians, settlers and activists that are buried in Maple Grove.
This event is free to the public. Refreshments will be served. Please call 718-847-6070 for further information.