Rep. Benjamin S. Rosenthal (1923-1983) represented northeast Queens in the U.S. Congress from 1962 until his death in January 1983. Born in Manhattan, Rosenthal attended New York City public schools, Long Island University and City College before serving in the U.S. Army during WWII. He received his law degree from Brooklyn Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1949. In 1962, Rosenthal won a special election to the Eighty-Seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused when Rep. Lester Holtzman won a seat on the state Supreme Court; Rosenthal was then reelected to the 11 succeeding Congresses.

During his congressional tenure, Rosenthal was an early opponent of the Vietnam War and a champion of consumer protection causes. He was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee for Commerce, Consumer, and Monetary Affairs.

The Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library is the main library on the Queens College campus and was named upon its opening in 1988 to honor Rep. Rosenthal. The 350,000-sq.-ft., six-story building also houses the school’s Art Library and Graduate School of Library and Information Studies. Its hilltop location provides striking views of the Manhattan skyline to the west. Rep. Rosenthal’s papers are housed in the library’s Department of Special Collections and Archives.