Speaker's Bureau - The Roycroft Campus Corporation

Interested in learning more about local history or looking for a special evening for your group. The Roycroft Campus offers a speaker’s bureau on a variety of topics surrounding Elbert Hubbard and the Roycroft, the Arts & Crafts Movement, and Western New York history. Speakers are available to give presentations for your group either while visiting the Campus, offsite at a school, civic center, business, etc. or by virtual streaming.

Presentation topics are listed below. Click on the title to get a short description of each. For more information or to schedule a speaker please send an e-mail to info@roycroftcampuscorp.com

A Short History of the Roycroft Campus

Working in the late nineteenth century, Elbert Hubbard, a soap salesman, would be a catalyst for the Arts & Crafts movement in America. After being inspired by a trip to William Morris’s Kelmscott Press in England, Hubbard would return to East Aurora, N.Y. and build his first Roycroft Shop in 1897. Combining his strong business sense and the Arts & Crafts ideals, he would create an industry of hand printing, illuminating and bound books. Within a few years, the Roycroft Shops would undergo multiple expansions and produce a variety of handcrafted art including furniture, copperwork, and stained glass. Although the Roycroft would close due to tragedy and the Great Depression, a renaissance has begun. Come hear the stories of the rise, fall and rebirth of this National Historic Landmark, right here in Western New York.

Arts & Crafts 101

The term Arts & Crafts has come to mean a variety of different things. This presentation will discuss how the art movement came about, its influences, philosophy, and the major players who contributed to its rise. All of which would impact Elbert Hubbard and his creation of the Roycroft Campus.

Elbert Hubbard - The Early Years

How might Elbert Hubbard’s childhood and upbringing influence his later creation of the Roycroft? Starting with the Hubbard’s family tree and parents, we will examine Elbert’s early years; his school life, interests, hobbies and family connections which may have impacted his creation of the Roycroft Campus. This presentation will also include some recently discovered family photographs.

The Roycroft Press

Although the Roycroft Campus was known for a variety of items such as furniture and copper work, Elbert Hubbard’s main interest was printing. This presentation will give an overview of the Roycroft Press, the origin of the name and mark, the types of material printed at the shop, and focus on the four periods of books produced at the Roycroft including examples of these books.

Dard Hunter - The Roycroft Years

Dard Hunter was one of the most influential artists to work at the Roycroft. His distinctive typography and elegant compositions would have a huge impact on not only the Roycroft, but Arts and Crafts style in general, becoming one of the most significant graphic designers of the early 20th century. This presentation focuses on his short, but impactful time at the Roycroft, and how his influence is still seen around East Aurora.

Frances Benjamin Johnston and Katharine Maltwood: The Hidden Artists of the Roycroft

Learn about the role photographer, Frances Benjamin Johnston and sculptor, Katharine Maltwood would have on the Roycroft. These two, somewhat unknown, women artists would leave a lasting imprint on not only the Campus, but both the United States and Canada.

The Dirty Story Behind the Birth of 4 Architectural Treasures

This presentation examines the complex relationship among four giants in American history that all intersect around the turn of the 19th to 20th century in Buffalo, New York. John Larkin, owner of one of the largest soap companies in the world, Elbert Hubbard, mastermind behind the Roycroft Campus, businessman Darwin D. Martin, and the world-famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Their relationship would help create four architectural masterpieces, which are once again beacons for people today.

Western New York: Epicenter of the American Arts & Crafts Movement

Was Buffalo the epicenter for the start of the American Arts & Crafts movement? This presentation will explore how the Western New York region may be viewed as the national capital for design, production, and innovation in American Arts and Crafts and examine how people like Hubbard, Stickley, Grueby, Rohlfs, Wright, Newcomb and Rookwood all converged in Buffalo to launch this new form of decorative arts. We will try and narrow it down to the specific day, time and place where the American Arts & Crafts Movement “officially” began.

The Women of the Roycroft

The Roycroft Campus was founded by Elbert Hubbard, but it may not have become what it did without the incredible women that surrounded him. The Roycroft was very open to the hiring and freedoms of women, employing many and paying them equal salary to the men. Learn of some of the amazing female artists of the Campus and the roles of those lesser-known. And hear how the writings of Elbert and his wife Alice would have an impact on the Arts & Crafts community and the Suffragette community as a whole.

NEW: The Lost Treasures of the Roycroft

As the Roycroft Campus collection continues to grow we often dream of those elusive or lost Roycroft treasures that may be out there, waiting to be found. Take this interesting adventure to learn of the Roycroft connection to the Major Leagues and the Wyeth family, and view some of the unique, one-of-a-kind Roycroft items; such as paintings, artifacts, lamps and recordings, that we hope to one day rediscover.

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