The Bridge

January 2025

The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded The Louis Armstrong House Museum a Digital Projects for the Humanities Production Grant for The Bridge: The Jazz and Hip-Hop Map of Queens. This interactive digital experience seeks to increase awareness about one of the essential storylines in the history of American music: how the presence of a prolific jazz community in the New York City borough of Queens had significant influence on the rise of hip-hop music in the borough and beyond.

Many jazz legends lived in Queens during the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, including Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, and Dizzy Gillespie. In the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, hip-hop legends including Nas, Marly Marl, MC Serch, MC Shan, LL Cool J, Q-Tip grew up in Queens. In addition to these known names, the network of musicians from jazz, funk, and hip hop that flourished in Queens is prolific, connected through family, geography, and shared experience.

Building upon The Queens Jazz Trail map commissioned by Flushing Town Hall in 1998, the 60,000-piece Louis Armstrong Archives, and contemporary oral histories and research, The Bridge will allow users to explore the stories and connections of these artists and community members who made the culture happen in Queens. Be on the lookout for teasers and trailers in Summer 2025 and a full launch in the Fall.

Stay In the Know! 

Sign up to our newsletter to receive updates about The Bridge and other programs from the Louis Armstrong House Museum.

The Team

The NEH Production Grant is the final stage in a multi-year process to bring this project to light. The individuals who are currently leading the final production stage include: 

REGINA BAIN: Louis Armstrong House Museum

KYLE ADAMS: Indiana University

ADRIANA CARRILLO: Louis Armstrong House Museum

TL CROSS: Musician, Historian 

PEDRO ESPINOZA: The Louis Armstrong House Museum

RACHEL GINSBERG: Branding for Experience

HYLAND HARRIS: Louis Armstrong House Museum

BRUCE HARRIS: Louis Armstrong House Museum

SACHA JENKINS: Filmmaker

BRIAN KANE: Yale University

MAUREEN MAHON: NYU

RICKY RICCARDI: Louis Armstrong House Museum

DANNY SIMMONS: Visual Artist

LENNY WHITE: Musician 

JON YANOFSKY: Kupferberg Center for the Arts

CHARANYA: Louis Armstrong House Museum

DAN WEMPA: Queens Community

Additional Community have Included:

Thank you to the artists and scholars who have aided the project through the years:

CLYDE BULLARD: Flushing Town Hall, SYREETA GATES: Historian and Archivist, JAKE GOLDBAS: Louis Armstrong House Museum, ANTONIO HART: Queens College, ROY HAYNES: Musician, NATALIE MILBRODT: CUNY Archives, TATJANA LIGHTBOURN: Artist and Educator, JASON MORAN: Musician and Visual Artist, BILL TOLES: Musician, ELLEN KODADEK: Flushing Town Hall