The Organ

Pipes of the Austin organ at Harkness Chapel.

Austin designed the organ in consultation with J. Lawrence Erb, the Connecticut College organist and professor of music from 1923-42. "Afternoons he may be found happily immersed in the organ pit in the chapel luring the soul from the fine Austin," the College alumni magazine reported in spring 1942. It has 47 speaking stops controlling 3,000 pipes.

The organ was one of two that were intended to showcase Austin's new, more refined tonal style after a corporate reorganization in 1937. Erb's successor, Arthur W. Quimby, is believed to be the first person to perform the entire works of Bach on an Austin organ. The concerts spanned three years.