On Monday October 21, 2019, in the Great Hall at the Brooklyn Historical Society, the students from Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy (ICCA) in Jamaica Estates were given the Award for Educational Use of Archives by The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York (A.R.T.).
The award recognizes and celebrates an individual or organization who utilizes primary source materials to create engaging and informative learning experiences for diverse audiences.
The students of the ICCA Aquinas Honor Society engaged in researching and writing books that tell the lost stories of servicemen listed on their hometown war memorials. The sites they researched included the Jamaica Estates World War II Memorial, the My Buddy Monument in Richmond Hill, and a World War II Memorial in Kew Gardens. Funded by supporters of their work, they researched the service men using local archives. These life stories had all but been forgotten for decades but now the extensive research the Aquinas Society has uncovered newspaper articles, biographies and photographs to tell stories of bravery and lives lost. Supporters of the Aquinas Honor Society provided funding to publish this research and copies will be donated to every library in Queens.
This is the second Award for Educational Use of Archives for the Aquinas Honor Society, which was founded 15 years ago, having first won in 2011 after researching three local history books: Images of America: Jamaica Estates (2010 Arcadia Publishing), Images of America: Jamaica (2011 Arcadia Publishing), and Images of America: Kew Gardens (2010 Arcadia Publishing). The Society's accomplishments are numerous and impressive. They include the replacing of the long lost bronze bust of Jacob Riis at Riis Park in 2011 and they have placed numerous historical plaques throughout Queens. Their awards include the NYC Historic District Council Grassroots Award and the Oyster Bay Historical Preservation Award. Over the years they have won tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships and prizes. The Society even discovered the African American Burial Ground in Queens of the First Colored Presbyterian Church of New York established by Reverend Samuel Cornish in 1824.
Sadly, the moderator for the Aquinas Society, Carl Ballenas is retiring in June which will mean the end of the Aquinas Honor Society unless another teacher takes over. Regardless however, Queens will forever have the legacy of the Society's impressive work.
