Brother Albinus Peter Graves, F.S.C., (October 15, 1887 – October 11, 1964) was an American Lasallian Brother who was last posted to the

De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines The De La Salle Brothers - Philippine District is part of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, the largest congregation of Roman Catholic religious Brothers who are exclusively dedicated to education. The Institute was founded ...

and was a President of De La Salle College in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

.
"One Hundred Years of LaSallean Presence," Lasallean.

Early life

He was born Arthur Jacob Graves on October 15, 1887, in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. During his early years, he was educated in

Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

s and while he has expressed his desire to serve as a De La Salle Brother, his father did not allow him to do so. When he was 20 years old, he ran away from home and went to the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

in Pocantico Hills, New York. By the time his father knew where he was, he had already accepted his son's decision. In 1907,

Brother A brother 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 familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

Graves received the

religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious 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 eremitic and anchoritic life, ...

and was given the

religious name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should ...

of Albinus Peter.

Early assignments

In the immediate years after Graves' reception of the habit, Br. Peter was posted in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

and

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

. In 1909 he was posted at the Christian Brothers school in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, and in 1911 he was assigned to St. John's Academy in

Utica, New York Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...

. In 1913 he was then posted to St. James's Academy in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Assignment to the Philippines

In 1918 Brother Peter volunteered for the Christian Brothers' overseas mission to the Philippines, and in January 1919 he arrived in

. He was 32 years old and was named Director of De La Salle College. In his first year of Directorship, he oversaw the construction of the new site of the College on Taft Avenue. Thus, in 1921, he transferred the school from Calle Nozaleda in Paco to Taft Avenue. It was also during this time that the title of President was used for the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the College. Graves negotiated the sale of the Paco lot, which was bought from the Perez-Samanillo family, to Vicente Madrigal with the agreement that the sale included the

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

gate of the compound. Br. Peter insisted that the gate cost extra and threatened to have it dismantled and brought to Taft Avenue if Madrigal did not pay extra for it. The gate now stands at

Fort Santiago Fort Santiago ( es, Fuerte de Santiago; fil, Kutà ng Santiago), built in 1571, is a citadel built by Spanish navigator and governor Miguel López de Legazpi for the newly established city of Manila in the Philippines. The defense fortress is lo ...

Intramuros Intramuros (Latin for "inside the walls") is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Present-day I ...

. Br. Peter also donated the

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

of the new College's chapel, which he financed from the

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...

that he received.

Assignment to Malaya

After his term as President, Graves was assigned to Singapore for rest; he was then assigned as Director of the Saint George School in Malaya, and then Director of the school at

Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fo ...

in Burma. After a year, he was reassigned to

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. U ...

and was reappointed Director in 1925. In 1927 he was reassigned to Manila to teach

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in the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

department and then back again to Penang as Sub-Director of the Junior novitiate.

Return to the Philippines

Br. Peter was reassigned to Manila in 1930 for good. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was interned by the

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at the

Internment Camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

at Los Baños together with other

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Brothers and Religious. He was rescued by American forces in 1945 and went on an eight-month vacation. On December 16, 1945, Br. Peter returned to Manila to re-establish the College. In 1951, the De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines opened a novitiate and Graves was appointed Sub-Director and taught

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and Church History, among other subjects.

Death

On November 23, 1968, Graves was brought to the Manila Medical Center after complaining of chest pains and died four days later.

References

Br. Albinus Peter FSCLa Salle Brothers in R.P.
Accessed September 9, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Albinus Peter 1887 births 1964 deaths People from Minneapolis Roman Catholic religious brothers 20th-century American educators American Roman Catholic missionaries De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines Presidents of De La Salle University Roman Catholic missionaries in the Philippines Roman Catholic missionaries in Malaysia Roman Catholic missionaries in Myanmar American expatriates in the Philippines American expatriates in Malaysia American expatriates in Myanmar Missionary educators Catholics from Minnesota Educators from Minnesota