Emanuel A. Romero

Emanuel A. Romero Sr. (February 21, 1887 – December 8, 1960) was a Jamaican-American writer and speaker who was a prominent voice for racial justice from a Black Catholic perspective in the 1930s and 40s. He wrote for publications such as The Catholic Interracialist and The Interracial Review and he led both the Catholic Interracial Council and a majority-Black organization known as the Catholic Laymen's Union. He had a sister, Isadora. He attended parochial school in Kingston, and graduated from St. George's College before moving to New York in 1903 or 1906. Over the next years he attended business school at night in what was then known as the New York City Evening Schools (1825-1935), moving on to Columbia University's extension program, and then Fordham University, as well as studying law by correspondence course with Philadelphia's LaSalle University. He served in the Army during World War I, winning a commission at Camp Pike, rising to First Lieutenant, and afterward continuing in the Officers' Reserve Corps. In 1942 he registered for the World War II draft at age 55, but was not called up.

After WWI he was named "special organizer for colored troops" by the War Camp Community Service. There he organized activities for Black youth such as boys' clubs and Boy Scout troops. He also oversaw sports for Black adults such as tennis and swimming, in what was then a highly segregated society. In 1922 his name appears on the letterhead as adjutant for the Colonel Charles Young Post 398 of the American Legion of Harlem, named for the first Black man to achieve the rank of colonel in the Army.

Catholic lay leadership He was president of the Catholic Laymen's Union founded by John La Farge SJ in 1928, and vice president of the Catholic Interracial Council, also founded by La Farge in 1934. In 1950 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Cardinal Spellman presented him with a papal award from Pope Pius XII, Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice, for his work on interracial dialogue and justice. He was president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for his parish. He was also a recipient of the Silver Beaver, the highest award in scouting.

Personal life Romero married the Jamaican-born Minnett Esemine Ennever (1890-1969) in 1919. They had four children: two daughters, Consuelo and Regina, and two sons, Lloyd, and Emanuel Jr. (Manuel or Manny), who became a prominent figure in the Urban League. As of 1954 Romero had seven grandchildren. Emanuel A. Romero died at age 73 on December 8, 1960, at St. Luke's Hospital in New York.