Women Highlighted In Queens Holiday Tour Of Historic Houses

FLUSHING, QUEENS -- New Yorkers can celebrate the holidays and an important feminism milestone all at once this year in a festive tour through some of Queens' most historic homes.

The Queens Historical Society will host its annual Holiday Historic House Tour on Dec. 10, this time celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Women's Suffrage Movement in New York, where women gained the right to vote in 1917. To honor that theme, this year's walking tour will feature seven Queens houses associated with prominent women throughout history, the Queens Historical Society said.

"This event will be a point of reflection on the importance of the women featured and will greatly aid in recognizing the heritage they left to future generations," a Queens Historical Society spokesperson said.

The tour will feature six stops within walking distance of each other that range from the Kingsland Homestead in Murray Hill, to the Flushing Town Hall, to the historic home of African American inventor Lewis H. Latimer. A shuttle will be available at the Flushing Town Hall to take participants to the tour's last site, the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Corona.

A historic woman is tied into each stop on the tour. Some stops, like the Lewis H. Latimer house and the Louis Armstrong Museum, honor wives or female relatives responsible for preserving the legacy of the houses' famed inhabiters.

Others honor standalone women in history. The Kingsland Homestead, for example, will talk about Civil War Nurse Annie Cornelia Mitchell Murray. The Flushing Town Hall will honor late Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald with an informational panel on her life and her Christmas music playing in the background.

Mixed in with the history lessons will be some holiday fun. Many of the houses featured will have host musical performances, holiday crafts and historically-themed seasonal displays and decorations. All will offer tours, activities and refreshments.

The historic house tour will run on Dec. 10 from 1 to 5 p.m. Each ticket cost $15 - or $20 at the door - and is good for all seven sites along the tour. For more information on the tour or to order tickets, contact the Queens Historical Society at 718-939-0647 ext. 14 or at info@queenshistoricalsociety.org.

Lead photo via Google Maps of Flushing Town Hall, located at 137 Northern Blvd.