Jabez E. Dunningham (1868-1945), was an Elmhurst resident, and celebrated civic leader in New York City, particularly in Queens.

Born in England, Dunningham became the London representative for the publisher Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911) in the early 1890s. He moved to New York in 1896 and worked for Pulitzer until the publisher’s death in 1911. 

After his publishing career ended, Dunningham devoted himself to fighting for public improvements, first as executive secretary of the Community Councils of New York, where he was instrumental in bringing rapid transit to Staten Island where he lived in 1921.

Dunningham moved to Elmhurst, Queens, in the early 1920s and founded the Queens Council of Civic Associations, and helped the cause of homeowners in Corona who were being squeezed by a real estate firm. He lobbied against pollution, excessive garbage, and other problems affecting Queens. Dunningham lived at 40-71 Denman Street, within walking distance of this triangle named for him, and died on April 28, 1945, at the age of 77.