Anne Mathilde Bilbro

Anne Mathilde Bilbro was an American composer and music educator.^[1]

Anne Mathilde Bilbro
Background information
Born	January 1870 Tuskegee, Alabama, US
Died	2 December 1958 Montgomery, Alabama, US

Early life and career

A native of Tuskegee, Alabama,^[2] who spent the lion's share of years 20 through 49 in Gadsden,^[3][4] and the remainder divided primarily between New York, Birmingham, and St. Petersburg,^[2][5] Bilbro was the only daughter of five children born to Francina A. "Franke" (née Mason) and Judge James Andrew Bilbro.^{[4][6][7][8][9][10]} She attended the Alabama Conference Female College, graduating in 1887,^[2][11] and later studied music in Atlanta and New York.^[12]

Bilbro published over 600 works, primarily in the field of music education. Her compositions included piano pieces, pianologues, song stories, piano duets and trios, and complete collections of piano music. Her teaching methods were recognized for their novelty in the context of children's piano instruction.^[13] Bilbro operated a music studio in Gadsden, Alabama, from the 1890s to 1900s, and conducted master classes in multiple states. Beyond her work in music, she wrote short stories, a novel, articles for The Etude, and the "Legend of Noccalula," a text associated with Noccalula Falls in Alabama. In her later years, Bilbro experienced hearing loss but continued to engage with music.^[13]

In 1926, The Etude included Bilbro in its sesquicentennial edition celebrating "150 years of American music," alongside other prominent composers of the time.^[13]

Death and legacy

On December 2, 1958, Bilbro, whose health had been failing for well over a year, died in Montgomery, Alabama.^[14]

In 1983, together with artist Clara Weaver Parrish, Bilbro was named to the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.^[2]

References

1. "Alabama Authors » Blog Archive » BILBRO, ANNE MATHILDE, 1870-1958".
2. "Women's Hall of Fame Will Honor Composer, Artist". The Birmingham News. July 24, 1983. p. 5. Retrieved May 13, 2025. "A composer and an artist will be installed this fall in the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame, a state agency located at Judson College, Marion. Plaques honoring Anne Mathilde Bilbro (1870 1958) and Clara Weaver Parrish (1861-1925) will join those recognizing Helen Keller, Julia Tutwiler, Lurleen Wallace, Tallulah Bankhead and others. Born in Tuskegee, Miss Bilbro graduated from the Alabama Conference Female College (now Huntingdon College) at 17, and taught music in Gadsden, New York, St. Petersburg and Birmingham. She has been called Alabama's most prolific composer, with over 600 works published."
3. "State News: Tuskeegee News". The Weekly Age-Herald. July 24, 1889. p.5. Retrieved May 13, 2025. "Hon. J. A. Bilbro has removed with his family to Gadsden. We hoped that this might not be, but last week good byes were spoken, and we were made to realize our loss. The Gadsden bar could not have drawn from any part of the state a more accomplished lawyer than James A. Bilbro and the removal of his family has secured to the social life of the progressive city a very valuable acquisition. We congratulate Gadsden."
4. Dalrymple, Dolly (July 23, 1920). "Mathilde Bilbro". Birmingham Post-Herald. p. 8. Retrieved May 13, 2025. "Miss Bilbro, who is the only daughter of Judge J. A. Bilbro of Gadsden, has been a visitor to Birmingham for the week [...] For the past year Miss Bilbro has lived in New York, the demand for her and writings being so great that she found it necessary to make her residence there [...] 'Although I was born in Tuskegee, my home has been in Gadsden for many years, my father removing there some years ago to continue the practice of law.' Miss Bilbro said, 'but before I even went to Gadsden I wrote songs, scribbled verses. I suppose I inherit the gift, for my father loves rhymes and makes them, too."
5. "Foremost Composer Attends Etude Music Club Meet". The Cherokee County Herald. September 30, 1953. p. 6. Retrieved May 13, 2025. "A surprise event during the evening was the appearance of one of Alabama's foremost composers, Miss Mathilde Bilbro of Gadsden. Miss Bilbro, who has held an enviable place among American Composers for thirteen years, has spent the last ten years principally in New York City. Although eighty-one, she is still actively engaged in composition and in teaching."
6. "Mathilde Bilbro, Composer, to Make Her Home in City". The Birmingham News. October 11, 1936. p. 22. Retrieved May 13, 2025. "Mathilde Bilbro, one of the leading composers of educational music in this country, has joined the faculty of the Birmingham College of Music, where teach composition. Miss Bilbro is a native Alabamian, daughter of the late Judge James A. Bilbro, who was one of Alabama's outstanding and greatly esteemed jurists. She has been away from her native state for several years, spending most of her time in the East, composing."
7. "United States, Census, 1900", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M98N-2B8 : Thu Apr 17 22:02:38 UTC 2025), Entry for James H Bilbro and Frankie M Bilbro, 1900.
8. "United States, Census, 1910", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKQN-F9W : Fri Mar 08 07:42:21 UTC 2024), Entry for James A Bilbro and Francina Bilbro, 1910.
9. "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957", , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQNR-C6Y : 13 February 2020), Franke Mason in entry for James A. Bilbro, 1866.
10. "A Favorite Composer: Mathilde Bilbro". The Etude. August 1934. Vol. LII, No. 8. p. 499. "Anne Mathilde Bilbro was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, the daughter of Judge James Andrew and Francina (Mason) Bilbro. Her grandfathers, Chancellor Wylie A. Mason and Hon. John B. Bilbro, were eminent in the public life of Alabama. For a number of years Miss Bilbro made her home in Gadsden, Alabama."
11. Commencement: Sermon by Dr. Bancroft; Monday Night; Tuesday Forenoon; MONUMENT TO ENGLISH LITERATURE". The Tuskegee Gazette. June 25, 1987. p. 1. Retrieved May 13, 2025. "The Aunual commencement exercises of the Alabama Conference Female College are replete with interest and instruction. [...] The class of 1887 comprehends 34 pupils, 13 of whom graduated in the English, and 21 in the classics course. [...] Celtic and Saxon Periods, Annie Lowe Barker; Anglo-Saxon and Danish Periods, Selena Bloch; Norman Period, Scila Cassady; Period of Broken Saxon, Pauline Carmichael; Period of Dead Saxon, Mamie Daniel; Age of Chaucer, Bettie Flowers: Elizabethan Age, Clustie Lewis; Age of the Commonwealth, Etta Mason; Period of the Restoration, Lizzie McGhee; Age of Queen Anne, Addie McGhee; Age of Johnston, Ada Pickett; Age of Scott, Annie Stewart; The Victorian Age. Kate Underwood; Coronation of Monument, Mathilde Bilbro."
12. "The Spokesman Review Service Department". The Spokesman-Review. October 2, 1933. p. 4. Retrieved May 13, 2025. "Question - Hope, Idaho - Some things about the life of Mathilde Bilbro? Answer--Anne Bilbro, author and composer, was born in Tuskegee, Ala. She graduated from Alabama Conference Female college at Tuskegee (now Woman's College of Alabama at Montgomery), studied music with Kurt Mueller, Atlanta, Ga., and in New York."
13. "Alabama Women's Hall of Fame ' Anne Mathilde Bilbro". www.awhf.org.
14. Stewart, Mrs. Frank R. (September 18, 1957). "Scene Here 'n' There". The Cherokee County Herald. p. 4. "Miss Mathilde Bilbro, one of Alabama's noblest women and finest composers, told me some of her secrets of teaching piano yesterday. I visited her in the Masonic Home Hospital in Montgomery. Miss Tilly, as they call her, has a lovely well-modulated voice and she continues to use it to further the cause of her beloved music, even though she is quite weak from illness. [...] She has had hundreds and hundreds of pupils, all of whom adore her. Friends of Miss Bilbro wish for her, good health and very soon."

Further reading

• Happy Half Hours in Melody Land. Cincinnati: Willis Music Company, 1921.
• The Middle Pasture. Boston; Small, Maynard & Co., 1917.
• Military Parade. Willis Music Company, 1917.