New 'Story Map' Reveals Black History Behind Kew Gardens Landmark

KEW GARDENS, QUEENS — The story of the nearly century-old Kew Gardens home of Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Ralph Bunche is featured in a new project released by the city this week in honor of Black History Month.

The neo-Tudor Ralph Bunche House, built in 1927, is featured on a new interactive "story map" by the Landmarks Preservation Commission that highlights landmarks and historic districts that hold a prominent role in New York City's Black and African-American history.

Bunche is known for career in international service and diplomacy, during which he helped found the United Nations and advised three different secretaries-general. He was awarded the

Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 for his work negotiating armistice settlements between Israel and its Arab neighbors, according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Bunche and his family lived in the Kew Gardens home for more than 30 years.

“As we celebrate Black History Month and continue to strive for racial equity and social justice, it is important to recognize the history of the Black experience in New York City,” Deputy Mayor Vicki Been said in a statement.

The project, Preserving Significant Places of Black History, includes maps, narratives, images and multimedia about the stories behind landmarks and historic districts throughout the city.

It includes 75 individual landmarks and 33 historic districts that mark moments in New York City history dating back to the pre-Civil War era.

Featured sites include homes of prominent New Yorkers like Shirley Chisolm, Langston Hughes and James Baldwin, as well as cultural venues, abolitionist homes and other institutions.

"It is not an exhaustive list of all places significant to African American history in New York City, but an educational tool and a living document, which can be updated with additional scholarship about designated buildings, and with future designations of landmarks and historic districts," the Landmarks Preservation Commission said.

Check out the interactive maps here:

Patch editor Anna Quinn contributed reporting.