St. Ann's Church for the Deaf-Mutes

St. Ann's Church for the Deaf-Mutes
(Episcopal)

511 West 148th Street east of Amsterdam Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10031

Organ Specifications:
511 West 148th Street (1898-1949)
• none
7 West 18th Street near Fifth Avenue (1859-1898)
► II/24 J.H. & C.S. Odell, Op.130 (1873)
► II/17 Hall & Labagh (1848)
Washington Square (1852-1859) – New-York University Chapel
• Henry Crabb (1850s)

The concept of St. Ann's Church for the Deaf-Mutes dates to September 1850, when The Rev. Thomas Gallaudet, D.D. (1822-1902), began a Bible class for the deaf-mutes in the vestry room of St. Stephen's Church, then at the corner of Chrystie and Broome Streets. When the group outgrew the vestry room, it was moved to quarters at 59 Bond Street. By 1852 Dr. Gallaudet decided to establish a church for the deaf-mutes and, with funding by Trinity Church, hired the chapel of New-York University on Washington Square. Dr. Gallaudet was made Rector of the church in October 1852.


18th Street at Fifth Avenue

In July 1859, the society purchased the former Christ Church and rectory, located on West 18th Street near Fifth Avenue, at a cost of $70,000.

Also in 1859, Dr. Gallaudet began to extend his work to other cities, leaving an assistant to conduct the services in New York. City by city, diocese by diocese, Dr. Gallaudet started voluntary worship services that were interpreted with sign language, all the while gathering and providing pastoral care for and work among the scattered deaf-mutes.

In 1872, the Church Mission for the Deaf-Mutes was organized. On November 16, 1879, the seventh anniversary was celebrated with services. After the evening service had concluded, Dr. Gallaudet gave a short address in which he explained the work and object of the church and mission. Although many mistakenly assumed that St. Ann's Church existed solely for the benefit of deaf-mutes, he said, there was a regular service in the morning and in the evening; it was at 2:45 P.M. that special services for deaf-mutes took place during which Dr. Gallaudet interpreted the proceedings by means of sign language. All seats were free.

By the year 1879, Dr. Gallaudet had a team that numbered five speaking clergymen, two mute Deacons, and several lay members and Bible-class teachers. He established the Gallaudet Home for Aged and Infirm Deaf-mutes on a 156-acre farm near Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

In 1897, St. Ann's was consolidated with St. Matthew's Church, and Dr. Gallaudet was made Rector Emeritus of the new congregation. With the proceeds from selling the old Fifth Avenue property, St. Matthew's built and supported a new chapel for St. Ann's, the first in the country to be erected solely for the use of deaf-mutes, and Dr. Gallaudet was named Vicar. Located on West 148th Street at Amsterdam Avenue, the Romanesque-style structure was designed by Clarence True. It had an exterior of cream-colored brick and was 80 feet deep and 60 feet high. The interior accomodated 300 and had an inclined floor, as in a theatre, so that the congregation would have an unobstructed view of the altar and officiating clergyman as he prayed and preached with sign language. Many windows flooded the room with light for those who depended on sight alone. There was no organ or choir loft. In the basement were several rooms for social work and meetings of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, and of the Guild of Silent Workers. The completed church was consecrated by Bishop Potter on December 26, 1898.

St. Ann's Church disbanded in 1949 and the building became home to the Manhattan Holy Tabernacle.

J.H. & C.S. Odell New York City – Opus 130 (1873) Mechanical action 2 manuals, 21 stops, 24 ranks In a contract dated October 2, 1873, the J.H. & C.S. Odell Company of New York agreed to build a new organ having two manuals and twenty-one stops for the sum of $4,000. Odell's standard "Style G" specification was modified as follows: the Great Trumpet was extended from 46 to 58 notes; the Swell Organ had a Cornet of two ranks (instead of the normal Twelfth) and a Vox Humana; and to the Pedal was added an eight-foot Violoncello.

Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8	Open Diapason	58	4	Wald Flute [TC]	46
8	Keraulophon	58	2 2/3	Twelfth	58
8	Dulce [grooved bass]	46	2	Fifteenth	58
8	Stopped Diapason, bass	12		Mixture, 3 ranks	174
8	Clarionet Flute, treble	46	8	Trumpet	58
4	Principal	58

Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes, enclosed
16	Bourdon, bass	12	2	Piccolo	58
16	Double Diapason, treble	46		Cornet, 2 ranks	116
8	Open Diapason	58	8	Bassoon, bass	12
8	Dulciana	58	8	Oboe, treble	46
8	Stopped Diapason	58	8	Vox Humana [TC]	46
4	Violina	58		Tremulant

Pedal Organ – 25 notes
16	Grand Double Open Diapason	25	8	Violoncello	30

Couplers
	Patent Reverisble Coupler			Swell to Pedal
	Swell to Pedal			Bellows Signal
	Great to Pedal

Patent Pneumatic Compositions
1.	Full Great Organ
2.	Full to Principal
3.	All of the eight feet stops
4.	Keraulophon, Clarionet Flute and Dulce
5.	Wald Flute, Clarionet Flute and Dulce
6.	Clarionet Flute and Dulce
7.	Dulce
8.	Wald Flute

Organ built for Christ Church at 7 West 18th Street: Hall & Labagh New York City (1848) Mechanical action 2 manuals, 16 stops, 17 ranks According to the American Musical Directory of 1861, this organ had "2 banks keys, 24 stops, 2 octaves pedals" and was "Built by Hall & Labagh, in 1848." In 1874, this organ was moved by J.H. & C.S. Odell (as Op. 136) to the [Reformed] P.E. Church of the Mediator in Brooklyn. The Agreement (May 2, 1874) between Odell and the church states that Odell would provide "new keys, new couplers, new action, new case, and new front pipes handsomely decorated" and set it up in the church for a consideration of $2,300, less $550 for the organ then in the church. Following is the specification of the Hall & Labagh organ as given in the Agreement:

Great Organ (Manual I) – 54 notes
8	Open Diapason	54	4	Flute (wood)	54
8	Viol de Gamba [TC]	42	2 2/3	Twelfth	54
8	Stop'd Diapason Bass	12	2	Fifteenth	54
8	Stop'd Diapason Treble [TC]	46	8	Trumpet	54
4	Principal	54

Swell Organ (Manual II) – 54 notes, enclosed
16	Bourdon Bass	12	8	Stop'd Diapason Treble [TC]	42
16	Double Diapason [TC]	42	4	Principal [TC]	42
8	Open Diapason [TC]	42	4	Principal Bass	12
8	Dulciana [TC]	42		Cornet (2 ranks)	126
8	Stop'd Diapason Bass	12	8	Hautboy [TC]	42

Pedal Organ – 25 notes
16	Grand Double Open Diapason	25

Couplers &c
	Swell to Great			Great to Pedal
	Swell to Pedal			Bellows Signal

Organ in New-York University Chapel:

Henry Crabb
Flushing, N.Y. (1850s)
Mechanical action

St. Ann's Church for the Deaf-Mutes met in the Chapel of New-York University at Washington Square, where there was an organ built in the 1850s by Henry Crabb. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.

Sources:
     American Musical Directory. New York: Thomas Hutchinson, 1861.
     "Celebration by Deaf Mutes," The New York Times (Jan. 7, 1894).
     "Church for Deaf-Mutes. Dr. Gallaudet's New St. Ann's Dedicated by Bishop Potter," The New York Times (Dec. 27, 1898).
     Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     Episcopal Diocese of New York Archives; Wayne L. Kempton, Archivist.
     "In the Real Estate Field," The New York Times (Oct. 31, 1894).
     "The Mission for Deaf-Mutes. How Its Seventh Anniversary Was Celebrated Yesterday – A Sermon By Bishop Huntington," The New York Times (Nov. 17, 1879).
     Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
     Trupiano, Larry. Factory Agreement (May 2, 1874) for J.H. & C.S. Odell organ, Op. 136 – the rebuilt 1848 Hall & Labagh organ.
     Trupiano, Larry. Factory Specification for J.H. & C.S. Odell organ, Op. 130 (1873).

Illustrations:
     Color lithograph (c.1860) of St. Ann's Church for the Deaf-Mutes. Collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

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