2019-09-09/2019-09-09 - From Organ Database Builders editor Stephen Hall, September 8, 2019. — The Journeymen Church Organ Builders' Association, founded in 1886, was organized by shop craftsmen who banded together to address working conditions and problems.1 Later the group became more formal; a constitution and by-laws were published in 1891. The opening section stated the intent of the organization: The objects of this Association are, namely, to elevate our trade to a higher plane, and by our mutual efforts to place ourselves on a foundation sufficiently strong to prevent encroachment on our rights, to use our efforts to establish an apprenticeship system, to encourage a higher standard of skill throughout the craft, to cultivate feelings of friendliness among each other, to assist each other to procure employment, and thereby be a benefit to our employers by assisting them in times of need to procure skilled workmen; also to reduce the hours of daily labor, to secure adequate pay for our work, and by legal and proper means to elevate the moral, intellectual, and social conditions of all our members.2 Some membership benefits included sick pay, compensation to a spouse in case of bereavement, and the option of bringing another member of the organization to trial. By 1898, the rollbook listed more than fifty members.3 Sources: Stephen L. Pinel, "A Brief History of the Mohr Family: American Organbuilders and Technicians", The Tracker 29:2, (Richmond, Va. Organ Historical Society, 1985), 24. Constitution and By-Laws of The Journeymen Church Organ Builders' Association, of New York and Vicinity (New York: James Warnock, 1891). Rollbook of the Journeymen Church Organ Builders' Association in the OHS Archival Collection from the Louis F. Mohr collection, 1985. The rollbook is written in the hand of Louis F. Mohr, Sr., and is dated 1898.
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