The last Republican and first Jewish Queens District Attorney, Nat Hentel, right, shaking hands with City Councilman Sid Lazar in 1970. (courtesy of the QJHS) Curating a local historical society can often be an under-appreciated endeavor. Sometimes, it’s only the biggest history buffs and local folklore hounds who make the effort to see meticulously curated collections that can take years of devoted, unpaid effort to gather and maintain.
Jeff Gottlieb knows what it’s like: as the president of two Central Queens historical societies — the Central Queens Historical Association and the Queens Jewish Historical Society — he has spent more than 20 years collecting historic photographs and writing press articles (more than 80 to date) about the area he loves and the issues that drive its citizens. Attention has been strong at times, and the work rewarding, but there is always room for a wider audience.
Now, thanks to the Internet, much of his work will be available to anyone at two new Web sites, designed by webmaster Dan Heisler: www.cqha.net and www.qjhs.org.
“I want to raise the consciousness of the people of central Queens to their cultural backgrounds and to the richness around them,” Gottlieb said.
Gottlieb has been a borough fixture for years. A Kew Gardens Hills native since 1956, he graduated from Forest Hills High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in education, both at Queens College.
From 1975 to 1982, Gottlieb worked as an administrative assistant to former Assemblyman Alan Hevesi. A retired teacher, he also taught high school social studies for 35 years, most of that time at at Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside. He currently works as legislative director for Councilman Joseph Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach).
But after helping organize a series of walking tours, beginning in 1986, his interest in central Queens history deepened and became something of a life’s pursuit.
“By the late 80’s I had developed an interest in the photos and the history of central Queens,” he explained. Before long, Gottlieb was organizing several tours a year around Forest Hills, Forest Hills Gardens, Richmond Hill, Jamaica and other nearby neighborhoods. He had also begun collecting photos and giving historical slide show demonstrations around the community.
When it became obvious that there was a good deal of interest around the community in what he was providing, Gottlieb, along with Michael Sidell, Joseph DeVoy and Janet Kessler, formed the CQHA in 1988, an all-volunteer organization.
Over the years, the tours and slideshows grew in popularity, until it had built-up a mailing list of nearly 3,000 names. The group was incorporated in 1994, and began receiving state funding to help with the purchase and duplication of historic photos. The association was granted non-profit 501(c)3 status in 2004.
Meanwhile, Gottlieb had begun to notice that much of the interest in his group related to Jewish history in the area. In particular, Gottlieb recalled receiving a query about Leo Frank, the only known Jewish victim of a lynching in America. Frank is buried at Mt. Carmel Cemetery, bordering Glendale, and his 1915 lynching spurred the formation of the Anti-Defamation League.
In 2002, Gottlieb founded the QJHS, in honor of Frank — a volunteer group with a 40-member board of directors that he hopes to make a 501(c)3 someday.
Gottlieb estimated that, between the two groups, he and others had accrued between 300 and 400 historic photographs, roughly 75 of which are currently online.
One advantage of the Web site is that it will make those photos and other documents more accessible — most of which was housed at the Community Board 6 offices and required special permission to view.
Gottlieb also hopes the site will draw attention to his groups’ walking tours and to the history of the communities themselves.
“It gets a little depressing or discouraging when people don’t come out for the tours,” he said. “I’d like people to get more interested in their communities ... and take a bit more appreciation for what they have.”
