Borough Presidents
Past & Present In The Service of Queens

In 2002, Helen Marshall became the 18th Borough President of Queens — the first African American and the second woman to assume the post of the highest elected official in the borough. And for this history-making woman, service to the community is nothing new.

Marshall was the Councilmember representing the 21st District (Corona, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and LaGuardia Airport) for 10 years before taking on her current position at Borough Hall.

She was the first minority and first woman to be elected by that district in 1991, and before leaving, she served as chair of the Higher Education Committee and was a member of the Housing & Buildings, Environmental Protection and Women’s Issues Committees. She also was co-chair of the Council’s Black and Latino Caucus.Before her election to the City Council, Marshall was elected in 1982 to the first of five terms in the New York State Assembly.

For eight years, prior to her election to the Assembly, she was an early childhood teacher. She left teaching in 1969 to become the first director of the Langston Hughes Library — a post she held for five years. She also was director of the Elmcor Testing Assessment and Placement Program for eight years. In 1975, she became a Democratic National Committee Committeewoman and was elected in 1974 as a Democratic District Leader. She was also a parent activist in the City’s public schools for 15 years, a member of Community Board 3 for 13 years and a founder of the Queens County Overall Economic Development Corporation.

Marshall is a graduate of the City’s public school system and has a bachelor’s degree in education from Queens College. She has also taken graduate courses in education at the Bank Street College, and public administration at Long Island University. She is married to Donald Marshall and is the proud mother of two children, Donald Jr., an electrical engineer, and Agnes Marie, who is employed in the fashion industry. Marshall also has two grandchildren, Chandler and Chasen, the children of Donald and Charlene.

 

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