JAMAICA, NY.- Queens Library will host a rare exhibit of the Flushing Remonstrance from December 5, 2007 through January 7, 2008 at Queens Library at Flushing, 41-17 Main Street near Kissena Boulevard during all regular library hours. It will be exhibited with photographs selected from Queens Library's Long Island Division, a special research collection, that depict houses of worship throughout Queens. Admission is free.

The exhibit is part of a borough-wide celebration of the 350-year old document, which demanded religious tolerance in the Dutch colonial town of Vlissingen (Flushing), in the colony of Nieuw Netherland. The Flushing Remonstrance is loaned by the New York State Archives, a program of the New York State Education Department. It is recognized as a precursor to the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Activities celebrating the Flushing Remonstrance and its principles will take place all over Queens. These are taking place at Queens Library:

COMMEMORATIVE STAMP AND POSTCARD FESTIVITIES - The Hon. Helen Marshall, President of the Borough of Queens, and Queens Library Director Thomas W. Galante will open an event at which commemorative postcards with the original 3-cent stamp from 1957 celebrating the Flushing Remonstrance will be distributed to the first 250 visitors. Flushing Post Office will be on hand to affix a special 350th anniversary cancellation. School children wearing traditional clothing from their countries of ancestry will help celebrate diversity in Queens. December 10, 11 am. Queens Library at Flushing, 41-17 Main Street, Flushing, 718-661-1200.

IT HAPPENED IN QUEENS: The Flushing Remonstrance Storyteller Rivka Widerman will bring the signers of the Flushing Remonstrance to life through stories, maps and pictures. For ages 9 -13. December 27, 2 pm. Queens Library at Flushing, 41-17 Main Street, Flushing, 718-661-1200.

The Flushing Remonstrance was signed in 1657 by a group of freeholders who were protesting a proclamation from the provincial governor, Peter Stuyvesant. The governor forbade the sheltering of Quakers, even for a single night. The townspeople had been guaranteed freedom of worship in the original 1645 charter by the Dutch West India Company. A written protest was prepared. It was signed by 31 men at great risk. None of them was a Quaker. Several were arrested and heavily fined by the furious governor. In 1661, John Bowne permitted Quakers to assemble in his home in Flushing. He was arrested and deported to Holland. He presented his plea. The Dutch West India Company upheld the promise of religious tolerance, citing that "the consciences of men ought, at least, to be free." They recalled Governor Stuyvesant to Holland. John Bowne returned to Flushing a free man in 1664. The legacy of the Flushing Remonstrance remains strong to this day.

Additional activities celebrating the Remonstrance can be found at www.flushingremonstrance.info.

The Flushing Remonstrance is loaned by the New York State Archives, a program of the New York State Education Department. The anniversary exhibit is being sponsored by the New York State Archives; the New York Archives Partnership Trust; Queens Borough President, the Hon. Helen Marshall; the Queens Economic Development Corporation; NYC & Company Foundation.