Girls' High School
(now the Board of Education Brooklyn Adult Training Center)


475 Nostrand Avenue and Macon Street
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201
           

W.W. Kimball Co.
Chicago, Ill. (1912)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 27 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 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.
               
Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes
8
  Open Diapason
61
4
  Octave
61
8
  Gamba
61
4
   Flute Traverso
61
8
  Doppel Flute
61
8
   Harmonic Tuba
61

     

     
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
  Bourdon
73
4
  Flute Harmonic
73
8
  Open Diapason
73
2
   Flageolet
61
8
  Stopped Diapason
73
8
  Cornopean
73
8
  Salicional
73
8
   Vox Humana
73
8
  Aeoline
73
   

     

     
Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
  Geigen Principal
73
8
  Unda Maris
73
8
  Concert Flute
73
4
   Flute d'Amour
73
8
  Viol d'Orchestre
73
2
   Piccolo
61
8
  Dulciana
73
8
   Clarinet
73

     

     
Pedal Organ – 32 notes
16
  Open Diapason
32
16
  Lieblich Gedackt
SW
16
  Bourdon
32
8
  Octave [ext.]
12
               
Pedal Movements
1.
   Great to Pedal reversible
     
2.
   Balanced Crescendo Pedal
     
3.
   Balanced Swell Pedal on Swell Organ
     
4.
   Balanced Swell Pedal on Choir Organ
     
5.
   Great Organ, forte      
6.
   Great Organ, piano          
7.
   Swell Organ, forte          
8.
   Swell Organ, piano          

           

W.W. Kimball Co.
Chicago, Ill. – (1903)
Tubular-pneumatic action
2 manuals


The first pipe organ to be installed in the high schools was that placed in the Girls' High School 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.

           

Sources:
     The Diapason, July 1912, with specifications of Kimball Organ; courtesy Jeff Scofield.
     "Girls' High School Keeping to Front," The Diapason, June 1914, courtesy Jonathan Bowen.

           
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