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Girls' High School
(now the Board of Education Brooklyn Adult Training Center)
475 Nostrand Avenue at Macon Street
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201
Girls' High School, one of the first public secondary schools in New York City, is an architecturally distinctive structure occupying the entire blockfront on the east side of Nostrand Avenue between Halsey and Macon Streets in the Bedford section of the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. Designed in a striking and dynamic combination of the Victorian Gothic and the French Second Empire styles by James W. Naughton, it was erected in 1885.
In 1912, another addition to the school was opened along the southern or Macon Street facade of the building. Constructed of red brick with stone trim, it was designed in the Collegiate Gothic style by C.B.J. Snyder who was then Superintendent of Buildings for the Board of Education for the City of New York, Snyder had been appointed to that position in 1891 and, after incorporation in 1898, was head architect for school buildings in all five boroughs. Snyder is also responsible for introducing the Collegiate Gothic style to public school architecture in New York. Girls' High School is an outstanding example of 19th century school architecture by one of the major practitioners in that field and it also represents an important step in the development of a comprehensive publicly supported education system.
The facility is now the Board of Education Brooklyn Adult Training Center.
- From the 1983 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report |
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W.W. Kimball Co.
Chicago, Ill. (1912)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 27 registers, 25 stops, 25 ranks
Since the installation in 1903 of the original two-manual and pedal Kimball organ in Girls' High School, the value of such an instrument, from an educational standpoint, was quickly realized. Larger instruments were subsequently placed in other high schools, numbering four in Brooklyn and one each in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx.
In 1912, the Kimball Company was contracted to enlarge the 1903 organ at a cost of $3,000. A third manual was added, the tubular-pneumatic action was electrified, and a new movable console was installed. The Great organ was retained, and stops of the Swell organ were extended by 12 pipes above the limit of the keyboard. Stops of the old Pedal organ were increased from 30 to 32 notes.
Mr. S. Frederick Smith, organist and choirmaster of Grace Episcopal Church, Plainfield, N.J., performed the opening recital on April 25, 1914. His program included works by H.A. Fricker, A. Guilmant, Max Reger, Debussy, Bizet, Ralph Kinder, W. Macfarlane, Arthur Bird, Gaston Dethier, and E. Lemare. |
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Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes
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8 |
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Open Diapason |
61 |
4 |
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Octave |
61 |
8 |
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Gamba |
61 |
4 |
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Flute Traverso |
61 |
8 |
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Doppel Flute |
61 |
8 |
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Harmonic Tuba |
61 |
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Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
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16 |
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Bourdon |
73 |
4 |
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Flute Harmonic |
73 |
8 |
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Open Diapason |
73 |
2 |
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Flageolet |
61 |
8 |
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Stopped Diapason |
73 |
8 |
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Cornopean |
73 |
8 |
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Salicional |
73 |
8 |
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Vox Humana |
73 |
8 |
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Aeoline |
73 |
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Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
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8 |
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Geigen Principal |
73 |
8 |
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Unda Maris |
73 |
8 |
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Concert Flute |
73 |
4 |
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Flute d'Amour |
73 |
8 |
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Viol d'Orchestre |
73 |
2 |
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Piccolo |
61 |
8 |
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Dulciana |
73 |
8 |
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Clarinet |
73 |
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Pedal Organ – 32 notes
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16 |
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Open Diapason |
44 |
16 |
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Lieblich Gedackt |
SW |
16 |
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Bourdon |
32 |
8 |
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Octave (fr. 16' Op. Diap.) |
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Couplers (Tilting Tablets over Manuals)
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Great to Pedal 8', 4' |
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Great 4' |
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Swell to Pedal 8', 4' |
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Swell 16', 4' |
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Choir to Pedal 8' |
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Choir 16', 4' |
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Swell to Great 16', 8', 4' |
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Pedal 4' |
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Choir to Great 16', 8', 4' |
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Swell Unison Cancel |
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Choir to Swell 8' |
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Choir Unison Cancel |
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Swell to Choir 8' |
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Pedal Movements
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Great to Pedal, reversible |
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Great Organ, forte |
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Balanced Crescendo Pedal |
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Great Organ, piano |
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Balanced Swell Pedal on Swell Organ |
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Swell Organ, forte |
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Balanced Swell Pedal on Choir Organ |
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Swell Organ, piano |
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W.W. Kimball Co.
Chicago, Ill. (1903)
Tubular-pneumatic action
2 manuals
The first pipe organ to be installed in the New York City high schools was that placed in the Girls' High School of Brooklyn in 1903. It had two manuals and pedals, and the action was pneumatic. The original cost was $3,000. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located. |
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Sources:
The Diapason (July 1912). Specification
of rebuilt W.W. Kimball organ (1912). Courtesy Jeff Scofield.
Dolkart, Andrew S. and Matthew A. Postal. Guide to New York City Landmarks (Third Edition). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004.
"Girls' High School Keeping to Front," The
Diapason (July 1912). Courtesy Jonathan Bowen.
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commision Report, June 28, 1983. Designation of Girls High School.
Illustration:
Detroit Publishing Co. (1900s). Exterior. |
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