Mark Campbell and Dr. Douglas Bush, School of Music

In colonizing the intermountain west, many early Latter-day Saints would construct houses of worship at the center of their communities called “tabernacles.” The last of these structures was built in the 1950s. Many tabernacles still exist and stand as a beautiful architectural legacy of LDS pioneers. As tabernacles would often seat a large number of people, reed or pipe organs were typically purchased to accompany congregational singing. The most famous LDS tabernacle is located on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. The world-famous Tabernacle Organ it houses has received ample attention in sound recordings, photography and other documentation and the instrument has undergone several renovations and expansions. Unfortunately, the organs of the other LDS tabernacles have been, for the most part, neglected historically. The goal of my research project was to compile any and all available information on these forgotten instruments.

To begin, it was necessary to compile a list of LDS tabernacles. As research commenced, however, it became more and more apparent that this would be no simple matter. I discovered from the Church History Library that its researchers were already in their first year of a four-year project to document tabernacles built by the Church. This helped me understand the enormous scope of my own research. It has been overwhelming just documenting the existing tabernacles. Though there has not been enough time up to this point to do justice to all tabernacle organs that have ever existed, I plan to pursue my research until I have adequately documented each one.

One of the biggest obstacles library researchers and I have encountered comes from the difficulty in finding a concrete definition of the word “tabernacle.” In LDS culture, “tabernacle” might more adequately be translated “assembly hall,” though this definition still leaves some ambiguity among historic LDS structures. The general definition of tabernacle being used by Church researchers is “a meetinghouse constructed by a stake before the World War II era.” I have used this guideline in determining my list, which has excluded several architecturally significant buildings that might otherwise appear to be tabernacles. The most important factor for me, however, in deciding what is and is not a tabernacle has been determining the initial intentions of the Saints who built them. Did they call it a tabernacle as they drew up plans and began construction? There was no concrete definition of the term “tabernacle” in their day. Time and circumstance gradually shaped the term in LDS culture. A community’s decision to call a building a tabernacle from the start is one of the truly defining points of the issue.

One additional difficulty I have encountered in this matter is that there was a period of semantic transition immediately following WWII in which the terms “stake center” and “stake tabernacle” were used synonymously. During this time there are newspaper articles announcing broadcasts of LDS General Conference which make reference to all stake buildings in the various broadcast locations as “stake tabernacles,” though most of these buildings are now only referred to as “stake centers.” It took some “digging” and several phone calls to sort through this issue.

With respect to my findings, I have discovered that some tabernacles never housed a pipe organ, and that some housed more than one through their histories. Typically the first organ would be something immediately affordable, such as a portable “reed organ” or “parlor organ.” Members would then save up money until they could afford a larger, more suitable pipe organ. In the 1930s electronic organs became available and found favor among those who were less willing to commit the time and resources necessary for pipe organ upkeep and tuning. Accordingly, some tabernacles only ever had an electronic organ for accompanying meetings. Other communities insisted on purchasing a real pipe organ, feeling such an instrument had more aesthetic appeal.

It is interesting to report the wide spectrum of attention that each of the tabernacles and their instruments have received. Some buildings, such as the Provo Tabernacle (recently destroyed by fire) as well as the Alpine and St. George Tabernacles have been preserved as functioning community icons, receiving regular use and any needed renovations. The pipe organs in all of these buildings are/were large, beautiful instruments, each receiving its due attention, appreciation, and proper use in regular musical performances.

Other buildings such as the Blanding, Morgan, and Rupert Tabernacles are no longer considered tabernacles by their communities. None of them currently house a pipe organ, and each functions simply as a ward meetinghouse. The Wellsville and Smithfield Tabernacles are both in poor condition – the former is in complete disrepair, and the latter had its steeple removed, its windows bricked over and its interior converted into a gymnasium. Thankfully, the original pipe organ of the Wellsville Tabernacle is preserved, having been relocated to the nearby Wellsville Stake Center.

Some buildings, such as the Rexburg and Paris, Idaho Tabernacles have been renovated and restored. The pipe organs in them have also received restoration and even expansion. The pipe organ in the Montpelier, Idaho Tabernacle is over-due for a renovation, as well as that of the Garland, Utah Tabernacle. I was informed by the management of both buildings that the pipe organs will soon receive any needed attention.

Travel has been both a blessing and a burden in my research. It is beyond words for me to describe the thrill I have had in personally visiting nearly all of the existing LDS tabernacles. This has also brought limitations as travel was only feasible within the states of Utah and Idaho. Other difficulties included the many hours required for searching through old, rather extensive stake and ward manuscript histories to find any mention of organ purchases for the tabernacles. Such searching has been fruitful, though, and there are many more hours yet to go in order to find information on each of the seventy-eight tabernacles ever built by the Church.

I have come to realize the full scope and potential of documenting all tabernacles and their organs throughout the United States and Canada. During my research on existing tabernacles, I have accordingly put much time and effort into gathering any additional information pertaining to all tabernacle organs, and plan to pursue this project over the next month in conjunction with the Church History Library to a full conclusion. I plan to pay for the results to be published as a non-profit work and to donate select copies to the Church History Library, the Lee Library at BYU, and any other institutions of learning that are interested in this research