City Council made it official Monday for Ryan Duffy to establish his second office to be at City Hall.

Duffy, executive director at Holland Land Office Museum, will take the helm as city historian now that former historian Larry Barnes resigned the post at the end of 2023. 

Why

You could say that 2024 is looking like a banner year for Ryan Duffy so far, first being in line for a Chamber of Commerce Special Recognition of the Year Award on behalf of Holland Land Office Museum, and now being asked to fill an important role for Batavia.

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.

City resident and historian Larry Barnes studied the lives of Black people who lived, worked, and/or had gone to school in the city of Batavia at some point in their lives, and the resulting message was as much philosophical as it was statistical.

He may not have been a City of Batavia resident for long before being appointed city historian, but whatever Larry Barnes may have lacked in residential longevity, he made up for with a growing passion.

It was while serving as an assistant to then County Historian Sue Conklin that Barnes became involved in researching city government — sifting through all sorts of materials and, as a result, becoming quite interested in the city.

That was more than a decade and a half ago.

Larry Barnes — the go-to guru of all things related to City of Batavia history for the last 16 years — will be resigning his post effective Dec. 31, he says.

City Historian Larry Barnes received his Volunteer of the Year award from the Batavia City Council at the start of Monday night's meeting at City Hall.

Barnes was named Volunteer of the Year earlier but was unavailable to receive the award.

The honor recognizes his many years of volunteer work as city historian, especially his efforts in support of the city's centennial celebration. 

Barnes said the award was really a shared award and recognized the many people and organizations who have helped him throughout his tenure as historian.