Photo by Joanne Beck
While it may have been a foregone conclusion that former college professor Larry Barnes taught history while at Genesee Community College, given his proclivity for the stuff as long-running city historian of 16 years, those assumptions were not correct, he says.
Barnes cleared that up while accepting a certificate of appreciation for his service Monday at City Hall.
“I taught classes at GCC for 37 years before becoming city of Batavia historian … I taught psychology courses,” he said. “How did I make the transition to history from psychology? When I retired from GCC, I started looking around for opportunities to do volunteer work in the community. Then I learned that the staff at the Office for the Aging helped to place volunteers,” he said. “Subsequently, with the assistance of OFA staff, I discovered that then County Historian Sue Conklin was actively seeking volunteers. Sue had received boxes of records from the years when Paul Weiss had served on City Council. And these records needed to be sorted and organized. So she said, 'would I be interested?' Well, why not? And soon I was off and running.
“In a nutshell, this is how I acquired the job as a volunteer in the County History Department,” he said. “Now let's cut to the chase. Long story short, the knowledge I acquired in working through these records fascinated me. Pretty soon I became a city of Batavia historian buff.”
All of that eventually led Barnes to author and co-author four books, write many monographs, and create several other oral presentations, all focusing on some aspect of City of Batavia history.
“In the 37 years I taught psychology classes I never imagined that here in 2024 I would be standing here in recognition not as a psychology instructor, but as Batavia’s city historian. I didn’t even know who Joseph Ellicott was,” he said, joking that he was certain all of the audience members knew. “I thought you might find this anecdote of interest. I also thought it might inspire a future historian.”
City Councilwoman Kathy Briggs read a proclamation to Barnes in honor of his service that began in 2008 and ended with retirement on Dec. 31, 2023.
He has been an important resource for offering his knowledge of city history to any and all who has requested it, maintained historical records, compiled information, contributed useful data for historical records, has been involved with groups such as the Landmark Society of Genesee County, Batavia Historic Preservation Committee, Genesee County Historians Association, Government Appointed Historians of Western New York and the Association of Public Historian of New York State.
“Now, therefore, be it resolved the City Council of the City of Batavia does hereby congratulate Larry Barnes, city of Batavia historian, on his dedication and service to the city, and wish him and his family good health and happiness for years to come,” Briggs said.
Barnes wrote “Images of America: Batavia Revisited,” “A Polish Revolutionary in Batavia, His Wife & Descendants, & A House Divided,” and “Black Batavians: Who They Are, Their Local History, and Aspects of Our Larger Culture That Have Especially Shaped Their Experiences,” and co-authored “Genesee Community College: The First 50 Years” with Ruth Andes.
Photo by Joanne Beck
