Organ Historical Society

Non-profit OrganizationsUnited States11-50 Employees

The Organ Historical Society began with an impromptu meeting of young organ enthusiasts who were interested in locating historic pipe organs in New York City. OHS membership has grown since 1956 from that small group to an international society of musicians, organbuilders, historians, scholars, and music lovers. The founders of OHS aspired to visit extant American “tracker” organs, create a comprehensive list with specifications, and share information with interested organ scholars. The OHS has far exceeded this aspiration in the six decades since, having created an online database of pipe organs with more than 60,000 entries; a historic organ citation program that has recognized more than 400 instruments; the world’s largest collection of pipe organ-related archives, books, journals, pamphlets, and other ephemera; annual conventions that take place in locations around the country; publications including a quarterly journal and award-winning scholarly books on the pipe organ; and an online store with organ-related books, CDs, videos, and sheet music.

The new headquarters of the OHS is Stoneleigh Estate in Villanova, Pennsylvania, a historic mansion located on a 40-acre property managed by the Natural Lands Trust. Stoneleigh showcases a historic Aeolian-Skinner organ as a centerpiece. The OHS Library and Archives, a world-renowned research collection, is also housed at Stoneleigh. The renovation of the Stoneleigh Estate and the relocation of the OHS is funded by generous support from the Wyncote Foundation.

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