Brother Antony Ferdinand Kilbourn FSC was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

De La Salle Brother who was last assigned to the De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines and was Acting President of the De La Salle College in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

while

Brother A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used ende ...

Lucian Athanasius Reinhart Brother Lucian Athanasius Reinhart, F.S.C. was an American De La Salle Brother who was last assigned to the De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines and was a President of De La Salle College in Manila. Early life He was born James Hyde Re ...

, F.S.C., was on leave.

Early life

Kilbourn was born on June 24, 1894, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, as George Henry Kilbourn. On March 19, 1909, he joined St. Joseph's Normal School in Pocantico Hills and received the

religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally, some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious Hermit, eremitic and Anchorite, anchorit ...

of the Brothers of the Christian Schools on April 24, 1910, at which time he was given the religious name Antony Ferdinand.

Assignment to the Philippines

At the age of 20, Kilbourn volunteered for

missionary work A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

and arrived in the Philippines in 1921, the youngest Brother in

. In 1924, he made his final vows and consecrated himself to the

Infant Jesus The Christ Child—also known as Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, Child Jesus, Divine Child, Divine Infant and the Holy Child—refers to Jesus Christ during his early years. The term refers to a period of Jesus' life, described in the canonical Gospe ...

. During schoolyear 1934–1935, Kilbourn was named head of the College of Commerce. He also introduced the

Palmer Method Sample writing from ''The Palmer Method of Business Writing'' The Palmer Method of penmanship instruction was developed and promoted by Austin Palmer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was intended to simplify the earlier "Spencerian m ...

penmanship Penmanship is the technique of writing with the hand using a writing instrument. Today, this is most commonly done with a pen, or pencil, but throughout history has included many different writing implement, implements. The various generic a ...

and was one of the organizers of the

Boy Scouts of the Philippines The Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) is the national scouting organization of the Philippines in the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The Scout movement was first introduced in the Philippines in 1910 during the American Occupat ...

, serving on its executive board with General

Carlos P. Romulo Carlos Peña Romulo Sr. (January 14, 1899 – December 15, 1985) was a Filipino people, Filipino diplomat, statesman, soldier, journalist and author. He was a co-founder of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, a general in the US Army and the Phi ...

, Secretary

Jorge B. Vargas Jorge Bartolomé Vargas y Celis (August 24, 1890 – February 22, 1980) was a Filipino lawyer, diplomat and youth advocate born in Bago, Negros Occidental, Philippines. He graduated valedictorian from Negros Occidental High School in 1909 an ...

and General Vicente Lim. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Kilbourn was

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

by the Japanese, along with the other American Brothers and Religious. After the War, he was named Acting President of the college after Br. Lucian Athanasius was forced to return to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to rest. Kilbourn died in

on the evening of May 3, 1961.

Notes

References

Br. Antony Ferdinand FSCLa Salle Brothers in R.P.
Accessed September 9, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilbourn, Antony Ferdinand 1894 births 1961 deaths People from Brooklyn Roman Catholic religious brothers American Roman Catholic missionaries De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines Presidents of De La Salle University Presidents of universities and colleges in the Philippines Roman Catholic missionaries in the Philippines American expatriates in the Philippines Catholics from New York (state)