[The 1906 Felgemaker Organ]

In 1998, Lawrence bought from the Outagamie County Historical Society a little two-manual, nine-stop tracker organ that was in the former Zion Temple (later the Gospel Temple Church) just four blocks from campus. Now in place in the rear balcony of the Chapel, this organ, built in 1906, was among the last tracker-action organs built in America before the rise of electric key action.

Wahl Organ Builders of Appleton did a splendid job restoring the instrument, bringing it back to its original sheen. It is a wonder to behold with marvelously hand-painted facade pipes in the intricate floral style of the period. The sound fills the room, and the richness and clarity of the voicing of those many eight-foot ranks is a revelation. It will serve as an excellent teaching tool for students, helping them understand organs and literature of that period, as well as providing opportunities to perform music written for two organs, two choirs, and so forth. It has an electric blower, but the hand-pumping mechanism still exists -- yet another teaching opportunity.

The addition of the 1906 Felgemaker serves as a most instructive prequel to the history of pipe organs in 20th-century America. It is a link between what organs were in the 19th century and what they would become in the 20th. The Brombaugh is the "now" -- the result of a century of great and dramatic change in organ building. What the next step will be in the unfolding drama of the pipe organ is anybody's guess, but the Lawrence Memorial Chapel is well-poised for whatever the 21st century may bring.

Stop list for the Felgemaker organ

Return to The History of Lawrence Memorial Chapel Organs