Margaret Holmes leads Van Cortlandt House Museum with focus on community, inclusivity and enriching programs

It is exciting to begin to strategize how Van Cortlandt House Museum and our team can build something together with the Bronx community and beyond to foster inclusivity and a lifelong love of learning.”

Margaret Holmes, Van Cortlandt House Museum director

Margaret Holmes took over as director of the Van Cortlandt House Museum four months ago amid battles between the National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York and Community Board 8. 

Holmes’ family has a 100-year-long history in the Bronx, which she said energizes her to “develop enriching experiences and programs that reflect the borough’s dynamic and resonant stories.”

For her, a museum is much more than a place to store historical objects, it creates a space to educate and offer community resources. Historic house museums are a special interest for Holmes, as she believes they play a role in the cultural landscape of the city, telling diverse stories with programs and exhibitions. 

She said museums present the opportunity for “sparking conversations about where we have been and where we are going.”

Holmes has a long-running background in studying the past, receiving a bachelor’s in history and later her master’s in public history. Despite working in insurance for 12 years, she wanted to pursue museum and public history later her life, which felt like a leap of faith. But it’s a choice, she said, which fulfills her on a daily basis.

Prior to her current role, Holmes worked as a museum educator at the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, which she frequented as a child with her father. 

CB8 parks and recreation committee chair Debra Travis has raised concerns over the last year about the Dames’ oversight of the museum, which they have managed since 1897. Travis scrutinized the inclusivity of events occurring at the museum as well as how the selective nature of the Dames’ membership plays into the organization’s management of the site. 

To address concerns, Holmes said inclusivity within the community is a top priority of hers and the museum team, and together they have gathered community feedback that will be implemented into programming development.

“We have actively been developing an advisory committee to address inclusivity in programming,” Holmes said, “which will incorporate community thought leaders’ suggestions as part of our development process.”

During the May CB8 parks and recreation committee meeting, Meredith Horsford, executive director of the Historic House Trust, attended to inform the board of the museum’s decision to begin curating a committee filled with community members who can offer a glimpse into the kinds of content from which the public would benefit. 

Her goal since beginning at the museum has been to learn about the community it serves so she can strategize how she and her team can grow their reach. Holmes said she’s most excited to “build something together with the Bronx community and beyond to foster inclusivity and a lifelong love of learning.”

One of the first changes Holmes implemented was adding a day to the schedule, taking the museum from four days to five. Recent additions to events that have stemmed from Holmes and her team include an evening of music and poetry with National Book Award winner Cornelius Eady and an artist talk with Bronx photographer Edwin Pagán, as well as an intimate performance of Argentine tango and folklore by composer and guitarist Carlos Pavan. 

At the May CB8 parks and rec committee meeting, Travis said she wanted a representative from the Dames or the museum to return in the fall to address how programming changed in the time Holmes has spent as director. One of her other concerns with the museum is the number of events being offered and advertised to the public. 

In Holmes’ plans for the future, she is developing programs on topics like enslavement, civil rights, women’s history, culture and music, as well as family-friendly and seasonal events.

For Bronx residents, admission to the Van Cortland House Museum is always free. For those outside of the borough, children under 12 are free while seniors and students pay $3 and adults pay $5. The museum has also been offering free school trips for all Bronx public schools during the current school year. 

Holmes said the museum has one of the highest visitation rates among the city’s historic houses, which encourages her to continue expanding offerings for the public. 

She said going to the museum every day, interacting with guests and learning about the community beyond matters deeply to her.