Chapel of Packer Collegiate Institute - Brooklyn, NY
 
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The Packer Collegiate Institute

170 Jorelamon Street
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201
www.packer.edu

Organ Specifications:
► III/30 Austin Organs Inc., Op. 372 (1912), rev. 1932
• II/27 E. & G.G. Hook, Op. 361 (1865)

Chapel

In 1845, the City of Brooklyn, incorporated in 1833, was home to 40,000 inhabitants. It had churches, shops, banks, several schools, but no high schools or colleges. A small group of interested landowners and merchants living on Brooklyn Heights formed a committee "of all the citizens interested in the cause of Female Education." After several meetings, a board of trustees was selected, funds were raised and the new school, named The Brooklyn Female Academy was built on Joralemon Street. It was a financial and educational success, its enrollment increasing steadily as the years went on. On January 1, 1853 the building caught fire and burned to the ground. A few days later, Harriet Putnam Packer (1820-1892), the widow of William S. Packer, one of the late trustees of the B.F.A. wrote to the school's Board, offering the sum of $65,000 to rebuild The Brooklyn Female Academy with just one small caveat: that the new institution be named in honor of her deceased husband.

Chapel of Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y. (Photo ca. 1902, courtesy Packer Collegiate Institute)  
Chapel interior (1902)  
   
The main building was built in 1854, as designed by Minard Lefever in the Gothic Revival style. Lefever also designed the First Unitarian Church (1843) and Church of the Holy Trinity (1844) in Brooklyn Heights. The original Packer building was constructed of "brick with brownstone dressings" and a slate roof. It included a tower, 112 feet in height, that was fitted with a revolving dome used as an observatory. The dome was removed in the early part of the 20th century when the I.R.T. subway was constructed under Joralemon Street.

One of the great amenities of the original building is its Chapel. Seating 700 on the main floor and upper gallery, it is the site of school assemblies and special events. Choral and instrumental music performances are a regular staple of the Packer Chapel. Many events are enriched by the sound of the 1912 Austin pipe organ.
               
  Austin Organ, Op. 372 (1912,1932) in the Chapel of Packer Collegiate Institute - Brooklyn, NY
   
Austin Organ Company
Hartford, Conn. – Opus 372 (1912), rev. 1932
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 35 stops, 30 ranks




The Chapel contains an organ built in 1912 by the Austin Organ Company of Hartford, Conn. The contract, dated May 10, 1912, shows that this organ was sold to Mrs. Cornelius Zabriskie at a cost of $8,000. Austin provided a detached and reversed stop-key console which included an "A.G.O. Willis model, concave and radiating" pedalboard. The two concrete swell boxes had 2-1/2" thick, double-construction, bevelled swell shades, and the organ had a wind pressure of five inches.

In 1932, Austin added a two-rank Echo division, rewired the Swell mixture, and replaced the Choir Quintadena with a Vox Angelica. The console, which had previously been on the rostrum level, was moved to the main floor.
               
Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, partially enclosed with Choir
16
   Bourdon
61
4
   Flauto Traverso *
61
8
   Open Diapason
61
4
   Octave
61
8
   Gamba
61
8
   Trumpet *
61
8
   Doppel Floete *
61
 
  
Harp *
49 steel bars
8
   Dulciana *
61
    
* enclosed in Choir box
 
      
 
      
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
   Lieblich Gedeckt
73
2
   Flautino
61
8
   Open Diapason
73
     Dolce Cornet II ranks
122
8
   Stopped Diapason
73
16
   Contra Fagotto
73
8
   Viole d'Orchestre
73
8
   Cornopean
73
8
   Voix Celeste [TC]
61
8
   Oboe
73
8
   Aeoline
73
8
   Vox Humana [sep. trem.]
61
4
   Flute d'Amour
73
     Tremolo [valve]  
 
      
 
      
Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Concert Flute
73
4
   Flauto Traverso
73
8
   Unda Maris [TC]
61
8
   Clarinet
73
8
   Dulciana
GT
     Tremolo [fan]  
8
   Vox Angelica **
73
 
   ** orig. 8' Quintadena  
 
      
 
      
Echo Organ – 61 notes, enclosed [added 1932]
8
   Violin Diapason
73
 
   Tremolo  
4
   Harmonic Flute
73
 
      
               
Pedal Organ – 32 notes
16
   Open Diapason
32
8
   Gross Floete [ext.]
12
16
   Bourdon
GT
8
   Flauto Dolce
CH
16
   Lieblich Gedeckt
SW
16
   Fagotto
SW
               
E. & G.G. Hook
Boston, Mass. – Opus 361 (1865)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 27 registers


Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
               
Sources:
     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.
     Ochse, Orpha. Austin Organs. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 2001.
     The Packer Collegiate Institute web site: www.packer.edu
     Van Pelt, William T.. The Hook Opus List, 1829-1916 in Facsimile. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 1991.

Illustrations:
     The Packer Collegiate Institute web site. 1920 photo of chapel interior.
     Lawson, Steven E. Console and facade of Austin organ, Op. 372 (1932).