Legislation Seeks to Tie Meetinghouse to National Park Service

Legislation that seeks to make historic sites in Flushing, Queens part of the National Park Service passed the House of Representatives on September 15, 2014. The bill now advances to the Senate.

The Flushing Remonstrance Study Act (H.R. 3222) would require the Secretary of the Interior – who oversees federal parkland – to study the viability of the National Park Service supporting spots associated with the 1657 signing of the Flushing Remonstrance, the document recognized as the forerunner of religious freedom in America. Sites include the John Bowne House and the Old Quaker Meetinghouse, both in Flushing.

“The Flushing Remonstrance is an important part of not only Flushing’s and New York’s history, but our nation’s history,” said Tom English, Co-Clerk of the Flushing Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), the religious group that owns the Quaker Meetinghouse. “We look forward to working with Congresswoman Meng and the National Park Service to ensure that the Remonstrance, the sites associated with it, and its important legacy, are known far and wide.”

For more information, go to the House of Representatives.