By Bill Parry
A research group at LaGuardia Community College will examine the history of LGBTQ activism in Queens as part of a three-year program illuminating the history of New York City.
Funded by a $225,000 from The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, a new group known as Gardiner-Shenker student scholars will be mentored by the faculty and staff at the LaGuardia & Wagner Archives, which was established on campus in 1982 and is regularly accessed by scholars, journalists, and policymakers.
“Despite the sizable LGBTQ population here, Queens has been largely neglected by scholars,” said Richard Lieberman, PhD, professor of history and director of the LaGuardia & Wagner Archives. “To address this oversight, the 2017 Gardiner-Shenker scholars will study LGBTQ activism in Queens — effectively expanding the focus of LGBTQ studies beyond Manhattan to the outer boroughs. We’re in the business of telling the real history of New York.”
LaGuardia Community College President Gail Mellow said, “The history of LGBTQ activism in Queens that our student scholars will document honors this community’s struggles and triumphs and will be an important resource for years to come.”
Future research projects by Gardiner-Shenker student scholars will focus on infrastructure, immigration or housing. The LaGuardia & Wagner Archives serves as a repository for the city’s social and political history, which includes the largest collection of the city’s mayoral papers.
“We’re proud to have the LaGuardia & Wagner Archives on our campus,” Mellow said. “Its presence reflects our faculty’s dedication to scholarly work — work that is normally assumed only to occur at four-year colleges and graduate centers. Giving a select group of students the opportunity to work with our Archives faculty, and to conduct original research for a public audience, will be incredibly valuable for these students as they begin their careers.”
The grant was received by the LaGuardia Community College Foundation to fund the Robert Gardiner-Joseph Shenker Scholars Program, named in honor of the late Robert David Lion Gardiner, a former Wall Street executive and the late Joseph Shenker, the first president of LaGuardia Community College.
“Both Joe and Robert David Lion Gardiner were passionate about history, so it’s fitting that this initiative is named in their honor,” said Susan Shenker, the widow of Joseph Shenker. “In fact, Joe founded the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives as a tribute to the college’s namesake, Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia,”
She added, “And as a pioneer of experimental learning — where students engage in studies that impact real organizations or receive on-the-job training through internships and other programs, Joe would be pleased that mentorship is a cornerstone to this initiative.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
