The organ (originally named hydraulos) was invented by an unnamed Greek engineer during the 3rd Century B.C. in Alexandria, Greece. Thousands of years later, this same type of instrument can be located at North Campus Drive, Glassboro, New Jersey, inside Rowan University’s Pfleeger Concert Hall. A picture of the organ can be found on the Home tab; this picture depicts one side of the massive organ pipes located on the wall of Pfleeger. The organ can produce such an elegant and majestic sound, so it is often performed for ceremonies like Mass, funerals, or inductions, and is rarely performed in concerts and other similar events. Due to this rarity, a vast majority of individuals are not educated on the magnitude an organ can bring to a performance. Additionally, much of the information concerning the first organ remains a mystery, such as who first played the instrument, how the maker was introduced to the idea of making this instrument, what events should the instrument be performed for, etc. These unanswered questions developed curiosity about the organ in Pfleeger, so I decided to conduct extensive research on the matter.

My research branches out into asking individuals about their experience of the organ. The first person I attempted to reach out to is a former faculty member of Rowan University. Lawrence DePasquale was employed by the Music department to help students and faculty obtain necessary field experience for their classes or occupations. Additionally, he is a graduate of Glassboro State College and studied the organ with Dennis Elwell. Mr. DePasquale seemed like a perfect candidate to interview about his knowledge of the organ, but he is unfortunately retired and left no immediate contact information for me to utilize.

Although I was unable to acquire information from Mr. DePasquale, I still persisted on conducting information about the organ in Pfleeger Concert Hall. Since the website and a former faculty member did not give me sufficient data, I decided to ask another former graduate of Glassboro State College, Ms. Maureen St. John. I was blessed to have interviewed Ms. St. John, and she was able to paint a picture of Glassboro State College during the 1970s. She was able to inform me about the activities she would do for entertainment, but she was not confident about remembering the organ located in Pfleeger. She would flip-flop between remembering the organ, and would later remark that she does not remember it, and vice versa. This kind of hazy memory led me to inquire deeper into the process of memory and how we use memory through our daily functions.