Jennifer Jensen has been announced as the new Director of the LaGuardia & Wagner Archives. Photo: LaGuardia Community College and Google Maps
March 20, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
LaGuardia Community College has announced Jennifer Jensen, the former curator of the Jackie Robinson Museum, as its new archive director.
Jensen, who officially took over the role on March 17, takes over as Director of the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, described as a repository of information on New York City’s social–political history with an emphasis on the mayoralty and the borough of Queens.
LaGuardia said the archives, which feature approximately 2.5 million digitized documents and photographs, are regularly accessed by researchers, journalists, students, scholars, and policy makers who examine the history of Greater New York.
Collections housed at the archives include the records of the New York City Council and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), Queens local history and LGBTQ activism and selected documents from the administrations of Mayors Fiorello H. LaGuardia, Robert F. Wagner, Edward I. Koch and Rudolph Giuliani.
In her new role, Jensen will oversee the management of the archives’ collections and develop strategies for building and expanding them. She will also lead strategic planning, operational, and financial management activities for the archives, which are part of the Office of the President.
Jensen, who will report to LaGuardia Chief-of-Staff Nayelli Valencia Turrent, will also cultivate, solicit, and steward gifts for the archives and help oversee the acquisition of new collections.
“I am thrilled to be joining the LaGuardia College Community as the new Director of the LaGuardia & Wagner Archives,” Jensen said in a statement, adding that she hopes to make the archives more accessible to students, faculty and staff as a resource for research, curriculum and exhibitions during her tenure.
Jensen also stated that she hopes the archives will become a center for both formal and informal learning opportunities.
“I want to share my passion for local New York history, focused on the Queens community and the college. I look forward to meeting the community in the coming weeks and months,” Jensen added.
A photo of Queensbridge Houses from the NYCHA Collection at the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives
Separately, the archives will host a new exhibition at the campus at 31-10 Thomson Ave. in Long Island City focused on the past, present and future of open spaces at NYCHA housing complexes.
“Living in the Shade: NYCHA Open Space Past, Present, and Future” highlights the importance of open spaces in the daily lives of NYC public housing residents and draws from the Archives’ NYCHA Collection. The exhibition, which runs from March 25 to May 23, also features images captured by LaGuardia Photography students.
LaGuardia is also set to celebrate the addition of its newest collection, “The Inner Circle,” on Thursday, March 27. The collection will explore the 102-year-old organization of NYC journalists known for its annual musical political roasts.
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