Guest Speaker series

Press Release:

Come to the Holland Land Office Museum between 5 and 8 p.m. for extended hours on Wednesday, April 2 for those who cannot make it during our regularly scheduled ones! You will get personal tours from staff and volunteers! We hope to see you there! Admission is the regular pricing listed on our website! 

Join us at the Holland Land Office Museum for the next edition of our Trivia Night @ the Museum on Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m. With the coming of the opening day of the baseball season, test your knowledge of the Baseball Hall of Fame and the players enshrined there. Admission is $5 or $3 for museum members. Please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 or hollandlandoffice@gmail.com if you would like to attend.

The Holland Land Office Museum is proud to announce the next act of our Concert Series on Friday, April 11 at 7 p.m. Classical guitarist Tom Torrisi will be showcasing his amazing talents, performing a concert of solo guitar music dating from the 17th to the 21st century. The program will include a selection of original compositions as well as music by giants of the classical guitar.

Tom Torrisi is a guitarist and composer based in Buffalo. Tom is currently a member of the faculty at SUNY Fredonia and teaches Balinese gamelan classes with Nusantara Arts in Buffalo. Admission is $5 or $4 for museum members. Please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 or hollandlandoffice@gmail.com if you would like to attend. 

The Holland Land Office Museum is proud to announce its next presenter in its Guest Speaker Series on April 17 at 7 p.m. Greg Kinal will be presenting "Target Tokyo" on the Doolittle Raid that bombed Tokyo in 1942. Mr. Kinal, a former teacher at Pembroke Central Schools, will deal with General Jimmy Doolittle's raid on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Among the pilots was Edward York, a Batavia native. Admission is $5 or $3 for museum members. Please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 or hollandlandoffice@gmail.com if you plan to attend.

Join us at the Holland Land Office Museum for the next edition of the Java with Joe Series on Thursday, April 24 at 9 a.m. This month's presenter is Jo Louis Wilkes, a former nurse at the VA Medical Center in Batavia and a historian of the VA system particularly in Batavia. Admission is free with coffee and donuts provided by Tim Horton's of Batavia. Please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 or hollandlandoffice@gmail.com if you would like to attend. 

The Holland Land Office Museum is proud to announce the next presenter in our Guest Speaker Series on Thursday, April 24 at 7 p.m. Ben Kemp, of U.S. Grant's Cottage Historic Site will be presenting, "A Yankee Galvanized Yankee: The Man Who Fought on Both Sides of the Civil War." He will share the incredibly unusual tale of Hugh Clemons. Learn about the circumstances that brought a man born and raised in the Southern Adirondacks of New York State into the service of the Confederate army and how he eventually ended up on the other side of the fight. 

Ben Kemp has been a staff member at Grant Cottage Historic Site since 2014, has published numerous online articles, and is a contributing author to the book "Grant at 200: Reconsidering the Life and Legacy of Ulysses S. Grant." Admission is $5 or $3 for museum members. Please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 or hollandlandoffice@gmail.com if you would like to attend.

Press Release:

The Holland Land Office Museum welcomes all on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. for our next Trivia Night at the Museum. In honor of President's Day, come and test your knowledge of the Presidents of the United States. Admission is $5 or $3 for museum members.

The Holland Land Office Museum is proud to announce the new exhibit opening “Reimagining History”. It will showcase a redesign of exhibits and exhibit spaces on the bottom level of the original structure of the Holland Land Office. Our permanent exhibit, “The Land Office,” will be presented with a new flow of story and presentation of artifacts. 

Also, the opening will showcase the newly revamped and enlarged exhibit, “98 Years Since the Sun Went Out.” In its new location in the old room where The Land Office” used to reside, it will triple in size and truly show what Genesee County looked like back in 1925 when the last total solar eclipse occurred over this area. There will be more history integrated into the exhibit along with many new objects! 

On Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. the museum welcomes all to view the new edition of “98 Years Since the Sun Went Out” and of “The Land Office.” You won’t want to miss it! 

Leonard Oakes Winery will be providing a wine tasting during the event. If you would like to attend, please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 or hollandlandoffice@gmail.com.

The Holland Land Office Museum is proud to welcome as the first presenter of our 2024 Guest Speaker Series Rick Falkowski on Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. Mr. Falkowski is an author and lecturer who has given presentations on several aspects of WNY life and history, will be presenting on his newest book, "The Spirit of Buffalo Women: Prominent Women Who Called WNY their Home." The book highlights the many accomplishments of local women throughout history and their lasting impact on our area. Admission is $5 or $3 for museum members. This project is made possible with funds from the statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by GO Art!

Join us at the Holland Land Office Museum for the next edition of our Java with Joe E. morning coffee series on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 9 a.m. This month in honor of President's Day our Director Ryan Duffy will share the many times that a sitting, future, or former President of the United States has visited Batavia and Genesee County, it is more times than you think. Admission is free with pastries and coffee. Reservations are required, please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 or hollandlandoffice@gmail.com to reserve your spot. We want to thank Pub Coffee Hub for sponsoring Java with Joe E. for 2024.

The Holland Land Office Museum is proud to announce the next edition of our Guest Speaker Series on Friday, February 23rd at 7 pm. We are happy to welcome Reverend Jeremai Williams of the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Batavia. Reverend Williams will be presenting on the history and importance of the African American church, along with church member Ethal Miles, and his wife Dr. Cassandra Williams. Ethal will be speaking on the beginnings of the church and how things have changed, and Dr. Williams will be speaking on important African Americans in medicine and her own perspective. Admission is $5 or $3 for museum members. Please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 or hollandlandoffice@gmail.com if you would like to attend. This project is made possible with funds from the statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by GO ART!

Press Release:

The Holland Land Office Museum is proud to announce the next edition of its Guest Speaker Series on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. The museum welcomes back Civil War historian and author Chris Mackowski, as he presents “Grant’s Last Battle.” The presentation details the difficulties that Ulysses S. Grant had as he wrote his memoirs near the end of his life, as he battled throat cancer. Admission is $5 or $3 for museum members. Please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 or hollandlandoffice@gmail.com if you would like to attend.

The Holland Land Office Museum is proud to announce the next presenter for our Guest Speaker Series on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. Steven Huff will be presenting his newest work "Resting Among Us: Authors' Gravesites in Upstate New York." Steven Huff will make a PowerPoint presentation, and lead a discussion on the region’s literary gravesites, who the authors were, what they wrote, and why they are important. Copies of the book will be available for sale. Admission is $5/$3 for museum members. Please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 or hollandlandoffice@gmail.com if you plan to attend.

Join the Holland Land Office Museum for the next edition of our Trivia Night @ the Museum on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. This month's topic is the Cuban Missile Crisis. Trivia will take place again at GO ART! located at 201 E. Main St. in Batavia. Their Tavern 2.0 will also be open if you would like a beverage. Admission is $5 or $3 for museum members. Please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 or hollandlandoffice@gmail.com if you would like to attend.

Press Release:

Join us at the Holland Land Office Museum for the next edition of our Trivia Night @ the Museum on Thursday, July 13, at 7 p.m. This month's topic is the Battle of Gettysburg, as it is the 160th anniversary of the battle this year. Admission is $5 or $3 for museum members. Please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 if you would like to attend.

The Holland Land Office Museum is proud to announce the next edition of its Guest Speaker Series on Wednesday, July 19 at 7 p.m. Local reenactors Ed Brodbeck and David Kreutz will be portraying General Ulysses S. Grant and President Abraham Lincoln, in a dramatic retelling of the relationship the two leaders had during the Civil War. Admission is $5 or $3 for museum members. If you would like to attend, please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 or hollandlandoffice@gmail.com. “This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by GO ART!

Join us at the Holland Land Office Museum for the next edition of our Java with Joe E. morning presentation series on Thursday, July 27 at 9 a.m. The museum welcomes Genesee County Historian, Michael Eula, as he shares his new book "The National is Local: Genesee County, NY, 1802-Present" on the history of our county and the connection to national events. Admission is free with coffee and donuts. Please contact the museum at 585-343-4727 or hollandlandoffice@gmail.com if you would like to attend.

Press release:

The Holland Land Office Museum is proud to announce our next edition of our Guest Speaker Series. On Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m., Jay Black will be presenting on “Civil War Weapons.”

Black is a local Civil War reenactor who will be telling us the history of many of the weapons used during the Civil War as well as showing off many of them in person from his vast collection.

The presentation will be available virtually through Zoom and Facebook Live. It is free to join and watch the presentation. For the Zoom information please visit our website. The Facebook Live information is available on our Facebook page.

This project is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered by GO ART!

For more information please call the museum at (585) 343-4727 or email at:   hollandlandoffice@gmail.com