[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17372]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING THE ALLEN ORGAN COMPANY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CHARLES W. DENT

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 29, 2010

  Mr. DENT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Allen Organ 
Company, which was founded in Allentown, Pennsylvania, by Jerome 
Markowitz, in 1937.
   We are fast approaching the 40th anniversary of the technology used 
in the Allen Digital Computer Organ, the world's first digital 
instrument. Introduced the same year as the digital calculator, these 
were the first two applications of the digital technology that is so 
prevalent in our world today. For nearly 40 years, digital music has 
provided quality, versatile, and economical music to performing artists 
and houses of worship.
   In 2004, the Smithsonian Institution acquired the very first Allen 
Digital Organ, which was manufactured in 1971 and originally installed 
in St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Easton, Pennsylvania. This 
recognition is a great honor for the Allen Organ Company and the 
inventive people in my district who have been crafting high-quality 
instruments for decades.
   Today, the Jerome Markowitz Memorial Center serves to display the 
technological advancements that Allen Organ has made over the years 
which have contributed to the advancement of electronic music. Allen 
Organ's early advances in digital technology paved the way for modern 
digital sound devices, such as CDs, personal computer sound cards, and 
portable media devices. From the company's first patent for an analog 
organ in 1938 through the digital revolution, Allen Organ has been a 
pioneer in the advancement of electronic music.
   Jerome's son, Steve Markowitz, is currently the president of the 
company, which has been run by the same family for seventy-three years. 
From humble beginnings, the Allen Organ Company now employs roughly 200 
of my constituents in the Lehigh Valley and has installed 80,000 
instruments in more than 80 countries. In closing, Madam Speaker, I 
would like to applaud the Allen Organ Company and its employees for 
their enduring dedication to the furtherance of digital music 
technology.

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