William J. Kerby

Monsignor
William J. Kerby
Orders
Ordination 1892
Personal details
Birth name William Joseph Kerby
Born (1870-02-20)20 February 1870
Lawler, Iowa, United States
Died 27 July 1936(1936-07-27) (aged 66)
Washington, DC, United States
Nationality AmericanUnited States
Denomination Roman Catholic
Occupation Priest, moral theologian, and social justice advocate

Monsignor William Joseph Kerby, S.T.L., Ph.D. (February 20, 1870 – July 27, 1936) was a writer, sociologist and a Catholic social worker.

Life

William Joseph Kerby, the son of Daniel Kerby and Ellen Rochford,[1] was born in Lawler, Iowa, on February 20, 1870.[2] He attended school in his hometown and graduated from St. Joseph’s College, Dubuque, Iowa in 1889.[3] He went to St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was ordained in 1892 at the age of 22. Kerby then furthered his studies at the Catholic University of America (CUA), receiving a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and a Licentiate in Theology. Kerby’s mentor was Belgian moral theologian, Fr. Thomas Bouquillon, a proponent of social science and analysis in moral living in addition to more established seminary curriculum. His interest became focused on sociology, and he studied abroad in order to help direct the developing field’s new department at CUA. Kerby studied in Bonn and Berlin, Germany and Louvain, Belgium,[4] where he receiving a Doctorate of Social and Political Science from the University of Louvain in 1897. His doctoral dissertation was an examination of American socialism.[5]

In 1897 Kerby returned to CUA as its first professor of sociology. He often spoke of the need to get to the root causes of poverty rather than solely focusing on immediate relief for those in need.[3] Kerby advocated using social remedies to alleviate poverty. He embraced the progressive reforms of the period calling for child labor laws, fair wages, and public health reforms. Kerby was a strong supporter of high education for women.[6]

In 1910 Msgr. Kerby was among the founders of the National Conference of Catholic Charities and was selected as the organization's first executive secretary.[7][8] Kerby turned the title over to his protege John O'Grady in 1920.

Honors

Kerby received an honorary doctorate of Laws from Notre Dame University in 1913.[3]

Works

Articles

See also

References

  1. Hoehn, Matthew (1948). "High Reverend William J. Kerby, 1870–1936." In: Catholic Authors: Contemporary Biographical Sketches. Newark, N.J.: St. Mary's Abbey, p. 384.
  2. Mosher's Magazine, Vol. 14, 1899, p. 187.
  3. 1 2 3 Barga, Michael. "Kerby, Monsignor William Joseph", Social Welfare History Project
  4. White, James Addison (1950). The Founding of Cliff Haven; Early Years of the Catholic Summer School of America. New York: United States Catholic Historical Society, p. 68.
  5. Woods Jr., Thomas E. (2000). "Assimilation and Resistance: Catholic Intellectuals and the Progressive Era", Catholic Social Science Review, Vol. 5, pp. 297–312.
  6. Hartmann-Ting, L.E. (2008). "The National Catholic School of Social Service: Redefining Catholic Womanhood Through the Professionalization of Social Work During the Interwar Years", U.S. Catholic Historian, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 101–119.
  7. Gavin, Donald Philip (1962). The National Conference of Catholic Charities, 1910-1960. Milwaukee: Catholic Life Publications.
  8. James Buckley, Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt, Trent Pomplun (2010). The Blackwell Companion to Catholicism. Wiley-Blackwell, p. 199.
  9. Translated into Spanish, "El Espíritu Conservador," Inter-América 4, 1920/1921, pp. 120–128.

Further reading

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