St. Benedict the Moor Roman Catholic Church - New York City
St. Benedict the Moor Church
(Roman Catholic)

342 West 53rd Street
New York, N.Y. 10019


Organ Specifications:
342 West 53rd Street (since 1898)
► II/3 "Style 100A Special" Wurlitzer, Op. 1888 (1933)
210 Bleecker Street (1883-1898)
• II/16 Ferris & Stuart (<1873)






St. Benedict the Moor Church was the first black mission church north of Mason Dixon line. The mission was founded in 1883 at the former Third Universalist Church located 210 Bleecker Street. As the black population migrated uptown, St. Benedict moved, in 1898, into the former Second German Church of the Evangelical Assocation at 342 West 53rd Street. R.C. McLane & Sons designed the building, which was erected in 1869. For many years St. Benedict the Moor Church primarily served the African-American population of Clinton/Hell's Kitchen.

In the 1920s many of St. Benedict the Moor's parishioners followed a citywide move of blacks to Harlem. The Spanish order of Franciscans were assigned to the church and the Church rededicated in 1954. Many of the former members filled the Church for its one hundredth anniversary celebration. 
           
Wurlitzer Organ Company
North Tonawanda, N.Y. – Opus 1888 (1933)
Electro-pneumatic action
Style 100A Special (with Automatic Player)
2 manuals, 3 ranks, 1 tuned percussion, 0 traps, Scroll Console


This organ was shipped on May 29, 1928 to the Markell Theatre in Milton, MA, but was later repossessed. On September 16, 1933, it was sold to St. Benedict the Moor Church in New York where it was again repossessed. The organ's third and final installation was in a lodge in San Antonio, TX, where it was moved on September 15, 1934. The organ was later discarded.

The "Special" designation indicates a change from the standard Style 100 model. Following is the standard Style 100 specification:
           
Pedal – 32 notes
16
  Bourdon
   
8
  Cello
   
8
   Flute
   

   

   
Accompaniment (Manual I) –- 61 notes
8
   Salicional
4
   Salicet
8
   Flute
4
   Flute
8
   Vox Humana      

   

   
Solo (Manual II) – 61 notes
16
  Bourdon
4
  Salicet
8
  Salicional
4
  Flute
8
  Flute     Cathedral Chimes

   

   
Tremulants (1)
General      
           
Organ in church located at 210 Bleecker Street:

Ferris & Stuart
New York City (<1873)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 16 stops


Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
           
Sources:
     Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     Junchen, David L., comp. and ed. by Jeff Weiler. The WurliTzer Pipe Organ – An Illustrated History. Chicago: The American Theatre Organ Society, 2005.
     Kaufmann, Preston J. Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, Vol. 3. Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1995.
           

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