During a tour of Queens College and its facilities, CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez and CUNY General Counsel and Senior Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs Derek Davis visited the Louis Armstrong House Museum Feb. 16 to celebrate Black History Month.
“The Louis Armstrong museum is one of my favorite places in Queens, every time of the year,” said Chancellor Rodriguez in an interview with amNew York. “He is such an important figure in the history of the United States. Black History Month is about celebrating those great figures of our past and also trying to connect them with our future. The tour they are giving out right now is about Louis Armstrong and civil rights, and I think it is the perfect thing for Black History Month.”
The museum is funded in part by Queens College and CUNY and works to maintain the memory and legacy of the famous jazz music pioneer in the very home he lived in in Corona, Queens.
The house where Armstrong lived for nearly 30 years, has been kept in pristine condition with all the original furniture and decor selected by Armstrong’s wife Lucille when the couple purchased the home in 1943.
“Louis Armstrong was a megastar, he grew up in New Orleans and lived here in Corona with his wife Lucille for 30 years,” said Regina Bain, executive director of the museum to amNew York. “He was one of the first Black musical megastars. He was one of the first to have top billing in a Hollywood film, he had one of the first integrated bands, he was one of the first to have his contract where he had to be able to stay in the places that he played across the United States which wasn’t the case for many Black performers. So he was an amazing pioneer and jazz genius, and we love him because of his genius and because of his position in the vanguard.”
It was particularly important to Chancellor Rodríguez to visit the museum because CUNY is also in the process of constructing the 14,000 square foot Louis Armstrong Center across the street from the current museum which will house Armstrong’s jazz archives. The center opens fall of 2022, and will be a tremendous cultural addition to the Queens community.
“We are going to be very excited in the fall when we open the extension of the museum, which is going to house his archives and all his documents,” said Chancellor Rodríguez. “This is going to provide a resource for the community and for the schools who will go on tours and do all those things, so it will continue to carry on the message of Louis Armstrong and his legacy and importance in American life, but will also improve the economic development of this neighborhood. We like to think that we are keeping the arts alive and music alive, but we are also generating opportunities for people to come get to know Queens and get to know Corona.”
