‘Lecture: Freemasonry in the Spanish Antilles’

     
The next lecture at the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library will bring back to the lectern Bro. Jorge Romeu. From the publicity:

An Overview of Freemasonry

in the Spanish Antilles

by Bro. Jorge Romeu

Tuesday, December 10 at 6:30

Chancellor Robert R. Livingston

Masonic Library

71 West 23rd Street, 14th floor

Manhattan

RSVP here

This month we are proud to welcome back Bro. Jorge Romeu to present his research providing a historic overview of the history of grand lodges in the Spanish Antilles during the 19th century. Freemasonry appeared, first and briefly, in the Spanish Antilles (Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic) as a result of the Haitian slave revolt at the beginning of the 19th century. Haiti’s French colonizers moved to the neighboring Spanish islands, taking Freemasonry with them. Freemasonry reappeared in the 1860s after an interlude of 30 years when it was forbidden by Spain. Freemasonry was then instrumental in these islands’ struggle for political autonomy, and eventually for independence.

Jorge Luis Romeu

Bro. Jorge L. Romeu holds dual Masonic memberships in New York (Liverpool-Syracuse 501, The American Lodge of Research, and Western New York Lodge of Research) and in Puerto Rico (Jose Celso Barbosa Lodge 106 and Jose G. Bloise Lodge 113). He holds doctorate and master’s degrees in Operations Research from Syracuse University, and serves as a Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Research Professor. Romeu is director of the Juarez Lincoln Marti Project, dedicated to enhancing faculty development exchanges. He is a member of the Fulbright Speakers Specialist roster, which has provided the opportunity to teach at numerous international universities.

Photo ID is required to enter Masonic Hall.
     

‘Livingston Library lecture for May’

     
If it’s May, it must be time for the Livingston Library’s fifth lecture of 2018. From the publicity:

300th Anniversary of Freemasonry

Presented by Bro. Jorge Luis Romeu

Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library

71 West 23rd Street, 14th floor

Manhattan

Thursday, May 31 at 6:30

RSVP here

Photo ID is required

to enter Masonic Hall

Last year, Freemasonry, as it exists today, arrived at its 300th anniversary. On June 24, 1717, four London lodges met to create the first grand lodge. Before that, Masonic lodges had existed, but mostly operated independently from each other. The new Grand Lodge of England provided Freemasonry with structure, common rules, visitation rights, and a modern philosophy: the Enlightenment. It was the beginnings of modern civil society.

Freemasonry introduced several concepts revolutionary for their time and place. Men were assessed by their merits, and not by their wealth or social status. Lodge leadership was elected, not hereditary. Members observed religious tolerance. Such ideas had a strong impact in the development of modern Western thought, as well as in the histories of many countries in Europe and the Americas.

The study of the history of Freemasonry has become an academic topic. CEHME (Centro de Estudios Históricos de la Masonería Española), a European academic organization, holds an international meeting every three years, most recently in Spain, and soon in Portugal. REHMLAC (Revista de Estudios Históricos de la Masonería Latinoamericana y Caribeña), a sister Latin American academic organization, also holds similar meetings. In the United States, UCLA also has held such seminars, among other academic institutions.

Bro. Romeu is a dual member of the Grand Lodge of New York and the Gran Logia Soberana de Puerto Rico. He is a Lodge member of Liverpool Syracuse Lodge 501, The American Lodge of Research, Western New York Lodge of Research, and Jose Celso Barbosa Logia 106 in Puerto Rico.

Jorge Luis Romeu

He received a Ph.D. from Syracuse University in Operations Research in 1990; a Masters from Syracuse University in Operations Research in 1982; and his Licenciado from the University of Havana in Mathematical Statistics in 1973. He is a Senior Specialist in the Sponsored Research Office at the State University of New York Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome, as well as a Senior Science Advisor at the Reliability Information & Analysis Center at Quanterion Solutions Inc./RIAC. He also serves as a Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Research Professor at the L.C. Smith College of Engineering & Computer Science at Syracuse University. His expertise is in statistics and operations research modeling and analysis; quality, reliability, SPC/DOE, industrial statistics, international education, and engineering education research.