The District of Columbia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists was the twelfth chapter of the Guild to be established. The driving force was Oscar Franklin Comstock, longtime organist and choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church (now torn down) and a founding member of the National Guild in 1896. In 1907, Comstock proposed a Southern chapter "taking in Richmond [VA] and other near-by places." An Organists and Choirmaster's League had already been established under the leadership of the Right Rev. Henry Yates Satterlee, the first Episcopal Bishop of Washington (1895-1908). At the League's final meeting in June 1909, Comstock introduces New York physician and organist Dr. Henry Granger Hanchell, who urged the Washington organists to identify themselves with the American Guild of Organists. Eighteen months later, The Evening Star reported: "An event of considerable importance in musical circles took place Thursday evening (December 15, 1910) in the studio of Oscar Franklin Comstock, at 1217 F Street, N.W. when, ... the District of Columbia Chapter of the Guild was formed...." Comstock was elected Dean, and British native Edgar Priest, soon to leave St. Paul's Parish, K Street, to become the first organist and choirmaster of Washington National Cathedral, was named sub-dean. After Priest's death in 1938, the District of Columbia Chapter made possible a two-manual Ernest M. Skinner organ as a memorial in the Cathedral's Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea. 

Now, with over 250 members, the District of Columbia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists is a large and thriving force for the recognition of Organ, Choral, and Church Music in our Nation's Capital.  Members represent every Christian denomination, as well as Jewish, Inter-Faith, and non-religious "Friends of the Organ".  The Chapter meets several times throughout the year for educational, musical, and fellowship opportunities and is administered by a Board of Officers.



Past Deans of the District of Columbia Chapter, American Guild of Organists
1910-1916    Oscar Comstock
1916-1918    Harry Wheaton Howard
1918-1920    William Stansford
1920-1922    John Boynton Wilson
1922-1924    Walter Nash
1924-1925    Louis Potter
1925-1927    Adolf Trovsky
1927-1929    Rolla G. Onion
1929-1930    Lewin Corning Atwater
1930-1932    Charlotte Klein
1932-1934    Christopher Tenley 
1934-1936    Mary Minge Wilkins
1936-1937    Charlotte Klein
1937-1938    Walter Nash
1938-1940-    Arthur Howes
1940-1942    Ruth Farmer Vanderlip
1942-1944    Jean Slater Edson
1944-1946    Katherine S. Fowler
1946-1948    Theodore C. Schaefer
1948-1950    Robert Ruckman
1950-1952    Marguerite brice
1952-1954    Nancy Poore Tufts
1954-1956    Lyman S. McCrary
1956-1957    Temple A. Dunn
1957-1959    Kathryn Hill Rawls
1959-1961    J. Richard Rancourt
1961-1963    Everett W. Leonard
1963-1965    Helen M. Bellman
1965-1967    William O. Tufts
1967-1968    Preston Rockholt
1968-1970    Marietta A. Clayton
1970-1972    Everett S. Kinsman
1972-1974    Geoffrey Simon
1974-1976    David R. Curfman
1976-1978    Eileen Morris Guenther
1978-1980    Donald S. Sutherland
1980-1982    James A. Dale
1982-1984    Robert B. Grogan
1984-1986    John M. Shepherd
1986-1988    William F. Watkins
1988-1990    Carol Feather Martin
1990-1992    Marvin Mills
1992-1995    Nancy Ruyle Dodge
1995-1998    B. Michael parrish
1998-2000    Sondra Goldsmith Proctor
2000-2002    Carol Guglielm
2002-2003    Eric Plutz
2003-2004    Kenneth Lowenberg
2004-2006    Patricia Schrock
2006-2009    Ronald Stolk
2009-2010    Thomas Cowan
2010-2012    Charles Miller
2012-2012    Thomas Smith
2013-2017    Russell Weismann
​2016-2017    Irvin Peterson
​2017-2018    Chris Betts
2018-2019    Jeremy Filsell
2019             Mark Willey
2020-2022   David K. Houston
2022-            Paul Byssainthe Jr.