Come join Artist and Historical Interpreter Cheyney McKnight at her AfroVictorian themed Kwanzaa Celebration. She will share how she practices Kwanzaa with her family, and how she hopes the holiday will evolve.  Cheyney will also share the principles of Kwanzaa and ponder how these principles can aid Black communities going into the next 20 years. Those who are able and willing are encouraged to bring a book by a Black author to participate in a book exchange (if you are buying a book we strongly encourage you to buy from a Black owned business).  

Calling all NYC pickle appreciators! Pickling has been around for centuries and Rufus King was known to eat all manner of preserved and pickled foods including pickled meat. Join us as we make our own pickles (vegetarian) and sample some of the pickles being made in New York today!

Hands on History is a FREE family program series held each first and third Saturday of the month at King Manor from 1-4pm.

Make your own 18th century kerchief with artist and historian Cheyney McKnight of Not Your Momma’s History! Join us at this free family craft to explore historical costuming and create your own kerchief in King Manor’s classroom.

You may find yourself the death of the holiday party because instead of having the “most wonderful time of the year” you’ll be having a griefy winter season. 

You’re not alone, and we invite you to join us in creating collaged cards and typewriting letters to those in your life who have died. Whether your person has been gone for 10 days or 10 years, you’ll find solace in community and in the creative expression of grief by participating in the collective project "Postal Service for the Dead". You’re encouraged to bring your whole self as we don’t shy away from your grief story and holiday blues! Light refreshments will be served.

Whatever your level of comfort with speaking about your grief, please join us. The intention of our events is to cultivate community and connections among folks of all walks of life who understand each other in a way that those who haven't experienced the death of someone close cannot. It is not a traditional support group, death cafe, or grief counseling. At the event, we can share grief resources for those looking for additional support.

Celebrate Día de los Muertos at King Manor Museum! Participants will have the chance to learn from artist Sebastian Ramirez-Halfpap to create their own Altar de Muerto and learn more about the traditions used to celebrate this holiday.

Hands on History is a FREE family program series held each first and third Saturday of the month at King Manor from 1-4pm.

Continue your Spooky Season with King Manor Museum on Saturday, October 26th by attending our Fall Festival! You can expect corn husk doll-making, pumpkin-picking, candy, crafts, and of course, the Queens Fiber Arts Festival! This jam packed celebration will also include art making classes, performances by Mazarte, and a workshop that explores the Victorian fascination with the occult!

This event is free to the public!

Musique Macabre, a creepy concert

In the spirit of All Hallows’ Eve ~ a concert of the Creepy & the Macabre ~ 

featuring King Manor’s own early-19th-century square piano ~
& baroque violin ~

Music to set an austere and haunting mood for the season ~

titles like “Le Tombeau” and “The Sultry Dance of Death,” ~ 

with haunting songs written by fellow Founding Father, Francis Hopkinson ~ 

and a grand sonata by Ignace Pleyel (published in 1818), recently found in the depths of King Manor.

Leah Nelson, baroque violin

Dongsok Shin, square piano

Doors open at 6:30 PM and the performance lasts from 7:00 - 8:00 PM.

Come celebrate Spooky Season with us as we discuss author Washington Irving and his 1820 story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” We will be making Headless Horseman paper pumpkin masks to take home!

Hands on History is a FREE family program series held each first and third Saturday of the month at King Manor from 1-4pm.

All Aboard! Come celebrate more than 200 years of local transit history at our newest exhibit, Transfer at Jamaica! Stop by and learn all about the transit developments from the 19th Century and beyond right here in Jamaica and design your very own train!

Hands-on History is a FREE family program series held the first and third Saturday of the month at King Manor from 1-4pm.

Raise a glass to the 237th anniversary of the signing of the US Constitution and support accessible educational programs that foster critical thinking and civic engagement in Queens and beyond.

The evening will include an open bar, signature cocktail, games with prizes to win, generous hors d'oeuvres, and live music! Enjoy our 19th-century period rooms and contemporary art exhibits.

All proceeds will benefit King Manor's financially accessible educational and public programming. Thank you for your generous support, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Join us for a screening of Madan Sara and N’AP Boule. This event is FREE and open to the public. Advanced registration is not required.

Need school supplies? Stop by King Manor for free books, crayons, pencils, and other school necessities for all ages! All supplies are free and first-come-first-served. We will also have other activities taking place throughout the event. Stay tuned for more information!

This summer, King Manor is once again bringing the museum to you!

Join us at Queens Public Library - Central Branch's Children's Discovery Center to interact with some cool objects in our museum collection. From a miniature wooden gavel from Rufus King made from the trees in his yard to a cannonball left over from the British during the American Revolution, these objects are between 150 to 200 years old and can be handled by visitors! Stop by to touch pieces of history every Tuesday this summer, from July 16th to August 13th, from 11am to 1pm.

This event is free and open to visitors of the Queens Public Library - Central Branch.

This summer, King Manor is once again bringing the museum to you!

Join us at Queens Public Library - Central Branch's Children's Discovery Center to interact with some cool objects in our museum collection. From a miniature wooden gavel from Rufus King made from the trees in his yard to a cannonball left over from the British during the American Revolution, these objects are between 150 to 200 years old and can be handled by visitors! Stop by to touch pieces of history every Tuesday this summer, from July 16th to August 13th, from 11am to 1pm.

This event is free and open to visitors of the Queens Public Library - Central Branch.

This summer, King Manor is once again bringing the museum to you!

Join us at Queens Public Library - Central Branch's Children's Discovery Center to interact with some cool objects in our museum collection. From a miniature wooden gavel from Rufus King made from the trees in his yard to a cannonball left over from the British during the American Revolution, these objects are between 150 to 200 years old and can be handled by visitors! Stop by to touch pieces of history every Tuesday this summer, from July 16th to August 13th, from 11am to 1pm.

This event is free and open to visitors of the Queens Public Library - Central Branch.

Join us for an afternoon of free chalk art! Facilitated by the Homeless Heart, we will be showing our walkway some love with designs that come from the heart. Stop by any time between 12-3pm!

About the Homeless Heart:
”Syesha Danielle artirtisticly known as Homeless Heart, is a 38 years old woman, of Puerto Rican decent, born and raised in the South Bronx. Art and history have always been fascinating to her.
While having experienced a period of homelessness, she initiated an art - exchange project allowing her to provide basic essentials to New York citizens as well as migrants during the migrant crisis while she, herself, was struggling. She is now a permanent resident in Jamaica, Queens.
She is recognized as an independent artist, humanitarian, community builder and an activist by continuously educating the public of the challenges unhoused people face on a day to day basis.
It is her personal mission to connect people, cultivate creativity, and catalyze curiosity.  The hope is to foster diverse perspectives, encourage and uplift others and to strive to be a civic and community hub for open conversation and artistic expression. She believes we should all aspire to uplift, educate and be of service to others. It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes strength and determination to restore a community to its fullest potential.”

July 1st, 2024 marks the 177th anniversary of the first U.S. postage stamp! The first general issue postage stamps went on sale in New York City, July 1, 1847. One, priced at five cents, depicted Benjamin Franklin. The other, a ten-cent stamp, pictured George Washington.

Join us in our classroom as we decoupage mini wooden boxes with authentic 1920s postage from around the world (U.S., France, Sweden, and more!). Use these boxes to store your own postage stamps — support the U.S. Postal Service!

This is an adult crafting event. Advanced registration required.

Tickets: $10

Tickets for this event support our education department, ensuring that the majority of our family crafting events, like Hands-on History, remain free!

This summer, King Manor is once again bringing the museum to you!

Join us at Queens Public Library - Central Branch's Children's Discovery Center to interact with some cool objects in our museum collection. From a miniature wooden gavel from Rufus King made from the trees in his yard to a cannonball left over from the British during the American Revolution, these objects are between 150 to 200 years old and can be handled by visitors! Stop by to touch pieces of history every Tuesday this summer, from July 16th to August 13th, from 11am to 1pm.

This event is free and open to visitors of the Queens Public Library - Central Branch.

On July 4th, 1776, the Continental Congress of the American colonies declared independence from Great Britain, signaling the beginning of the American Revolutionary War! Young men, along with Rufus King, joined the fight and became patriots! Rufus fought from 1777 to 1780 in Rhode Island. Soldiers like him would have carried their own powder horns and muskets for battle. They decorated their horns, made from ox or cow horns, with symbols and words of battle and freedom.

Stop by and make your own paper powder horn and celebrate America’s independence!

Hands-on History is a FREE family program series held each first and third Saturday of the month at King Manor from 1-4pm.

This summer, King Manor is once again bringing the museum to you!

Join us at Queens Public Library - Central Branch's Children's Discovery Center to interact with some cool objects in our museum collection. From a miniature wooden gavel from Rufus King made from the trees in his yard to a cannonball left over from the British during the American Revolution, these objects are between 150 to 200 years old and can be handled by visitors! Stop by to touch pieces of history every Tuesday this summer, from July 16th to August 13th, from 11am to 1pm.

This event is free and open to visitors of the Queens Public Library - Central Branch.

King Manor Museum is once again partnering with Civic Season!

In 1827, the year slavery officially ended in New York State, a free Black man named Wilson Rantous purchased about $250 worth of land in the Village of Jamaica, Long Island. His purpose? To develop a space for the local Black community to come together and prosper through fellowship, education, and civic engagement. Find out more about the life of Wilson Rantous and discover a grassroots movement in the early years of the United States, working toward one of the first Black voting rights conventions in New York State and whose echoes are still felt in the community today.

This walking tour will be facilitated by our site manager, and will begin and end at King Manor Museum.

Duration: approx. 1 hour

Available Languages: English, Spanish, Bangla, and Hungarian!

NYC DOT’s Office of Safety Education and Outreach visits senior centers across the five boroughs to discuss Vision Zero’s engineering, enforcement, and education efforts, and to learn more about older adults’ traffic safety concerns.

Happy Pride Month!

For our arts & crafts, we will be designing rainbow salt dough heart ornaments popularized in the Victorian Era! We will also be discussing the symbolism of flowers for queer folks in the Victorian Era (floriography).

While King Manor Museum does not have concrete evidence of queer inhabitants, stop by and learn about “Looking for Queer Possibility in the Museum” by Margaret Middleton. Copies of the booklet will be available for visitors. Take it on a tour of the museum and see if you can identify queerness in the King Family!

Hands On History is a FREE family program series held each first and third Saturday of the month at King Manor from 1-4pm.

On May 11th, 1896, William Heise, an assistant for Thomas Edison, was testing a new camera and filmed “Herald Square” in New York City. There was no plot, no story, no characters, and just a few minutes long. This was the first film shot in NYC and only the beginning for cinema. Movie-lovers rejoice!

Stop by the museum to make your own thaumatrope! The thaumatrope, invented in 1826 by the English physician J.A. Paris, is an optical toy that creates a moving image when the instrument is twirled. By drawing an image on the front and back of a piece of paper, you can make a “moving image” when twisted. This was a popular 19th century toy and an early introduction to film.

All ages welcome!

Hands-on History is a FREE family program series held each first and third Saturday of the month at King Manor from 1-4pm.

Beginning in April, King Manor Museum is presenting adult craft activities once a month from 12-3pm!

Did you have an ocean-themed bathroom in the 2000s? A beachy guest room or shell-adorned furniture? Blame the Victorians! While shells had been popular keepsakes among sailors and tourists for centuries, it was in the Victorian era when decorative seashell art became a popular pastime, especially by women. Wreaths, picture frames, furniture, and jewelry boxes decorated with seashells were immensely common. Stop by the museum to paint and design your own!

Do you have an old jar full of shells collected from visiting family or while vacationing? Bring them along.

You may be wondering, why in the galaxy would King Manor Museum be dedicating an event to Star Trek?

Star Trek debuted in 1966 as an intergalactic adventure series following the USS Enterprise on its 23rd century expeditions. Characters like Captain Kirk and Spock have become iconic in popular culture, with Spock being the logical center for the show. Spock, a Vulcan alien, had a human mother, Amanda Grayson. Grayson was played by Rufus King’s third great granddaughter, Jane Wyatt!

Join us in celebrating Jane and the show that paved the way for diverse storytelling on television (as well as television’s first on screen interracial kiss). Come solve Spock’s logic puzzles and make your own Star Trek COMM badge!

This event is free and open to the public. Advanced registration encouraged!