Bowne House is featured this month in a special edition of the New York Archives Jr! magazine published for young readers by the New York State Archives Trust. The article, written by Charlotte Jackson, Archival Consultant to the Bowne House and Kathleen A. Sciortino, Bowne House Trustee and Educational Administrator, explains in student-friendly language how the Underground Railroad operated using "conductors" and "passengers" to help enslaved people reach freedom.
Read moreBowne House Featured in a New Book Celebrating New York City Landmarks
The history of Bowne House is a featured essay in a new volume celebrating the 60th anniversary of New York City’s 1965 Landmarks Law. Beyond Architecture: The New New York, edited by preservationist, historian and author, Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel was published in December 2024 by New York Review Books. This book includes “One House, One Family, Three Centuries of New York History” written by Bowne House vice-president, Rosemary S. Vietor.
Read moreBowne House Awarded Conservation Treatment Grant to Conserve Early Schoolgirl Sampler
A $3300 grant from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network (GHNN) and the New York Council on the Arts (NYSC) will allow the Bowne House Historical Society to conserve a 19th century sampler in the museum’s collection.
Read moreBowne House is on the Bowery Boys Podcast
Bowne House Historical Society is featured on a recent episode of The Bowery Boys Podcast: “The Story of Flushing: An Epic History of Queens, Old and New.” In this episode of the Bowery Boys, Greg and special guest Kieran Gannon explore the epic history of Flushing through five specific locations — including the Bowne House!
Read moreThe Queens Gazette: "Bowne House: Mapping Underground Railroad In Flushing And Beyond"
Bowne House Historical Society is featured in a Queens Gazette article titled “Bowne House: Mapping Underground Railroad In Flushing And Beyond.” The article highlights the Bowne House StoryMaps project “Byways to Liberty".”
Read more“Treasures of New York: Bowne House” is part of PBS’ Black Excellence Block Party
“Treasures of New York: Bowne House” is part of PBS’ Black Excellence Block Party series, in honor of Black History Month. From the fight for religious freedom, to the Underground Railroad, “Treasures of New York: Bowne House” traces the history held in a 17th century house that’s now a museum in Flushing, Queens. Bowne House is the only recognized location in Queens on the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
Read moreGrant Awarded by Greater Hudson Heritage Network for Conservation of a 1909 Painting of Mrs. Robert Bowne Parsons
Bowne House has in its collection a 1909 painting by Edwin B. Child (1868-1937) of Mrs. Robert Bowne Parsons, wife of documented underground railroad conductor and nursery co-owner Robert Bowne Parsons. Mrs. Mary (Mitchell) Parsons is notable on her own for her single-handed preservation of the family ancestral Bowne House after her purchase of it at a tax auction in 1886 and subsequent request in her will that the house be preserved. Once conserved, her painting will assume its rightful place next to a portrait of Robert Bowne Parsons by the same artist.
Mrs. Mary (Mitchell) Parsons, 1909, Edwin B. Child
Painting Conservation funding will be supported through the NYSCA/GHHN Conservation Treatment Grant Program administered by Greater Hudson Heritage Network. This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional support is provided from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. Conservation treatment will be done by Williamstown Art Conservation Center, Inc.
The Irish Echo Newspaper
“The House on Bowne Street”
by Peter McDermott
On December 13th, 2023, an article about Bowne House was featured in The Irish Echo newspaper. Learn abut the story of the oldest home in Queens, including its connection to Irish-American history.
Treasures of New York: Bowne House
On Wednesday, November 29 at 8:00 p.m., the award-winning PBS program Treasures of New York will feature a one hour segment on Flushing, Queens’ Bowne House. The program can be seen on television station WLIW21 (Long Island’s PBS station) and livestreamed throughout the United States at wliw.org.
Untapped New York
“10 Stunning Sacred Sites You Can Tour This Weekend”
by Nicole Saraniero, Insider-in-Chief at Untapped New York
Built in 1661, Bowne House is one of the oldest structures in Queens. The wood-framed, Anglo-Dutch Colonial house was originally owned by John Bowne, a champion of religious freedom who was arrested for holding a Quaker meeting in the house in 1662. His appeal to the Dutch West India Company helped lay the foundation for the First Amendment.
The spirit of Civil Rights advocacy continued through the following generations of Bownes. John Bowne’s great-grandson, Robert Bowne, was a well-known abolitionist. Mary Bowne Parsons and her husband Samuel Parson operated the home as a stop on the Underground Railroad. The house became a museum in the 1940s.
-Untapped New York
QNS News
“Our ongoing mission is to educate the public about the Bowne-Parsons family and their history of activism, including John Bowne’s fight for religious freedom and the participation of family members in the Underground Railroad,” Bowne House Executive Director Elise Helmers said. “We hope the event has inspired our guests to continue learning about this rich history and to support education initiatives and historic preservation throughout New York.”
-QNS
Epicenter-NYC & Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State
“A Historic Day in New York”
by Kim Barrington Narisetti
Epicenter-NYC partnered with the Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State (URCNYS) and the Bowne House on Sunday, Feb. 26, to offer our members a tour led by museum educators. The Bowne House is one of the few accessible abolition landmarks in New York City and also serves as a research library documenting that part of American history.
-Epicenter-NYC