HARRIET KUPFERBERG
TRUSTEE EMERITUS, BOWNE HOUSE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The Bowne House is saddened by the loss of our Life Member and Trustee Emeritus, Harriet Kupferberg, on January 21, 2008.

Harriet’s involvement with Bowne House goes back many years. She and her husband, Dr. Kenneth Kupferberg, both served as trustees. Dr. Kupferberg served as treasurer, while his wife was actively involved in educational programming at the museum.

Harriet’s love of children and her appreciation of American history inspired many of the wonderful programs developed for children who visited Bowne House. Letters from schoolchildren gathered over the years show the impact that their class visits had on them. The story of John Bowne clearly left an impression; to this day, I meet people who have grown up in Queens who remember clearly their visit to Bowne House. What a wonderful legacy to have left to generations of children.

Harriet’s enthusiasm for Bowne House was contagious; she was a great source of information on the history of the house, the Society, and of Flushing. She had a keen memory and great powers of observation. Harriet was happy to share her knowledge and her experiences with others; recently, she was an important contributor to our historic structures report, which was completed in 2006. I always enjoyed my visits with her, because she invariably had another tidbit to share about the house and her experiences there. If I had a question about the museum, I knew where to go to get the solution to the puzzle.

Harriet was not only a generous benefactor, but perhaps more importantly, she was always ready to support a project and to express her faith in the future of Bowne House.
Her encouragement and unflagging devotion to the museum and its mission were a source of inspiration to me and to the other trustees. Harriet attended almost all of our events; I always looked forward to seeing her in the audience and hearing her insightful and enthusiastic comments on our programs.

In addition to their activities at Bowne House, Dr. and Mrs. Kupferberg were involved with a number of other philanthropic efforts such as Queensborough Community College, the Red Cross, Queens College, New York University and Temple Beth Sholom. Harriet’s commitment to others was developed at an early age, when her parents were involved in rescuing Jewish refugees from a tragic fate in Germany during World War II. She was very proud of a letter of thanks her family received from Albert Einstein.

Bowne House was lived in and loved by nine generations of the Bowne and Parsons families, in recognition of and respect for the legacy of John Bowne and his commitment to the principle of freedom of conscience in America. Since 1947, Bowne House has been cherished, maintained and supported by the members of the Society, including many residents of Queens, like Harriet and Ken Kupferberg. Their involvement has helped preserve the museum so that it can serve as an inspiration for future generations.

 The trustees of the Bowne House Historical Society and our membership extend their sympathies to the family of Harriet Kupferberg. We will miss her terribly.

Rosemary Vietor
February, 2008