Civil Society Project

Dr. Guillermo de los Reyes, University of Houston, Project Director and Vice President of the Policy Studies Organization

What fosters civil society and the development of social capital? The 200th anniversary of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia and of the Freemasons perhaps has something to say to scholars about this topic.

Dr. Guillermo de los Reyes, PSO Vice President and professor at the University of Houston, has taken in hand, with the assistance of Dr. Rich, a project prompted by the 200th anniversary of the Grand Lodge in Washington, D.C.  An initial focus is on a history of the Grand Lodge, the first in many years.

The foresight of the Grand Lodge in sponsoring research on its history is producing a book and discussion.  This is not a recent interest on the part of PSO scholars or Dr. de los Reyes as seen in photo below.

We hope that the various entries on this site will suggest how the200th anniversary of the Grand Lodge can lead to more interest about a seldom understood and often misunderstood part of history.

See also, Professor Putnam and Civil Society.