St. Angela Merici Catholic Church




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Church of St. Angela Merici
(Roman Catholic)

917 Morris Avenue at 163rd Street
The Bronx, N.Y. 10451
http://www.saintangelamerici.net/

Organ Specifications:
Present building (since 1923):
► II/16 Wangerin Organ Co. (1923)
First building (1900-1923):
• unknown

At the very end of the nineteenth century there were a large number of Catholics in the Melrose area of The Bronx. St. Luke's Church was established in 1897, followed by SS. Peter and Paul in 1898. Archbishop Corrigan created a third parish in September 1899, appointing Father Thomas W. Wallace to be its pastor. Lots for the new church were purchased at Morris Place and Helen Street, now known as Morris Avenue and 163rd Street. Since Father Wallace had two sisters who were Ursulines, he had no difficulty deciding on a name for the new parish. The first mass was said in a private house near 158th Street and Morris Avenue. A small wooden building was built on the site of the present church, and the first mass was celebrated there on June 24, 1900. The rectory was located on Morris Avenue between 162nd and 163rd Streets.

The parish school was established in 1907 and was located in the small parish hall on the Grant Avenue side of the church. For many years the school was administered by the Ursuline Nuns of St. Angela's College, New Rochelle, N.Y.

Planning for a larger school and permanent church began in 1920. First to be built, in 1923, was the school that contained twenty-two classrooms, a gymnasium in the basement, and a large auditorium that would serve as a temporary church. However, the proposed church was never built and the school auditorium became the permanent church.

Wangerin Organ Co.
Milwaukee, Wisc. (1923)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 20 registers, 16 stops, 16 ranks

The organ in St. Angela Merici Church was built in 1923 by the Wangerin Organ Co. of Milwaukee. At some point the original chests were converted to Direct-Electric action, and a two-manual Austin console was installed. A Peterson relay was installed about 2000. As of 2011 the organ was playable despite a failed Swell reservoir.

Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes

Principal

Great 16'

Hohl Flute

Great Unison Off

Dulciana

Great 4'

Octave

Swell to Great 16'

2 2/3

Twelfth

Swell to Great 8'

Fifteenth

Swell to Great 4'

Chimes

Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed

Diapason

Vox Humana *

Bourdon

Tremolo

Salicional

Swell 16'

Celeste (TC)

Swell Unison Off

Harmonic Flute *

Swell 4'

Trumpet

Chimes

* on separate chest added in rear of swell box

Pedal Organ – 30 notes (32-note pedalboard)

Resultant

—

Trombone

Bourdon

Swell to Pedal 8'

Principal

Swell to Pedal 4'

Gedeckt (fr. 16' Bdn.)

—

Great to Pedal 8'

Octave (fr. 8' Prin.)

—

Great to Pedal 4'

Flute (fr. 16' Bdn.)

—

Adjustable Combinations (mechanical)

Swell & Pedal	Pistons 1-2-3 (thumb)
Great & Pedal	Pistons 1-2-3 (thumb)
Entire Organ	Pistons 1-2-3-4 (thumb)

Pedal Movements

Balanced Swell Pedal

Great to Pedal Reversible

Sforzando Reversible *

* with indicators

Sources:
     Bronx Catholic Blog: http://bronxcatholic.blogspot.com/search/label/Saint%20Angela%20Merici
     "Building Fund Bazaar," The New York Times (Oct. 3, 1920).
     The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X, Vol. III. New York: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914.
     Church of St. Angela Merici website: http://www.saintangelamerici.net/
     Kloda, Barry. Specifications of Wangerin Organ (1923).
     Shelley, Thomas J. The Bicentennial History of the Archdiocese of New York 1808–2008. Strasbourg: Éditions du Signe, 2007.

Illustrations:
     Bronx Catholic Blog. Front and Rear exteriors.

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