Located only a block apart are the residences of two jazz legends: great friends and nominal musical rivals John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie and Louis Armstrong. In the 1940s Gillespie (born in 1917 in South Carolina), made a name for himself as a trumpeter and bandleader in the New York City jazz scene, and is regarded today as one of the fathers of bebop. Gillespie owned and lived in this three-family Colonial Revival style building from 1952-66. Cornetist Louis Armstrong (born in 1901 in New Orleans) lived in this Renaissance Revival style rowhouse with his wife Lucille from 1943 until his death in 1971. Over four decades the Armstrongs left their mark on the house, which remains virtually the same as they left it—from the flamboyant 1970s decor, to the musical memorabilia, to the outdoor bar they installed in the garden for entertaining. After Lucille passed away in 1983, the house was donated by the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation to the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. In 2003 the house opened to the public as a museum, still owned by the city but managed by Queens College. The house next door at 34- 52 107th Street serves as the museum’s administrative building. It was bequeathed to the museum by Selma Heraldo, a good friend to the Armstrongs, after her death in 2011. Honoring Heraldo’s gift, the NYC Department of Design and Construction is restoring the house and renovating the interior to better serve the museum. The Louis Armstrong House is an Individual Landmark and listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places.

One of the oldest and most storied African- American churches in this section of Queens, this congregation was founded in 1915 by 11 prominent families. Under the guidance of Rev. George W. Hinton (in whose honor the city park adjacent to the Dorie Miller Cooperative Houses is named), pastor from 1916 to 1958, the congregation established itself as a voice for equal rights. In 1929 W. E. B. Du Bois spoke at the church, and in 1939 its members organized lodging for families visiting the World’s Fair who were denied accommodation in segregated hotels. In the 1950s and ‘60s the church developed ties to the NAACP and played a local leadership role during the Civil Rights movement under the leadership of its second pastor, Rev. Robert D. Sherard. During the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, a period of rapid change and destabilization in the neighborhood, members of the congregation battled poverty, racism and social disinvestment, and worked closely with the Corona Branch of the Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast Program. Today the Church continues its long tradition of social and political activism. Louis Armstrong’s funeral was held here in 1971.

Louis Armstrong House, ca. 1940. This unassuming little house in Corona, Queens was home to jazz great Louis Armstrong and his wife Lucille. But more than just their home, it housed a recording studio and was where Armstrong worked on new music and entertained visiting musicians. The house is now run as a museum and archive of his work.

Located only a block apart are the residences of two jazz legends: great friends and nominal musical rivals John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie and Louis Armstrong. In the 1940s Gillespie (born in 1917 in South Carolina), made a name for himself as a trumpeter and bandleader in the New York City jazz scene, and is regarded today as one of the fathers of bebop. Gillespie owned and lived in this three-family Colonial Revival style building from 1952-66. Cornetist Louis Armstrong (born in 1901 in New Orleans) lived in this Renaissance Revival style rowhouse with his wife Lucille from 1943 until his death in 1971. Over four decades the Armstrongs left their mark on the house, which remains virtually the same as they left it—from the flamboyant 1970s decor, to the musical memorabilia, to the outdoor bar they installed in the garden for entertaining. After Lucille passed away in 1983, the house was donated by the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation to the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. In 2003 the house opened to the public as a museum, still owned by the city but managed by Queens College. The house next door at 34- 52 107th Street serves as the museum’s administrative building. It was bequeathed to the museum by Selma Heraldo, a good friend to the Armstrongs, after her death in 2011. Honoring Heraldo’s gift, the NYC Department of Design and Construction is restoring the house and renovating the interior to better serve the museum. The Louis Armstrong House is an Individual Landmark and listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places.