Denis W. Delaney (April 13, 1896 – February 13, 1968), also known as Denie,North Adams Transcript (North Adams, Mass.), December 8, 1949, p. 23. was an American government official, civic leader, World War I veteran, and entertainer from Lawrence, Essex County, Massachusetts.
He served as the state administrator of the Works Progress Administration in Massachusetts following his appointment during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In this role, he oversaw a large workforce engaged in public works projects. He later served as Collector of Internal Revenue for the District of Massachusetts.Boston Globe (Boston, Mass.), February 14, 1968, p. 71.
Early life and education
Delaney was born on April 13, 1896, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the son of Martin J. Delaney and Ellen Cahill Delaney.Boston Herald (Boston, Mass.), May 31, 1941, p. 7. Obituary of Ellen Cahill Delaney. He attended St. Mary's and the Packard schools before graduating from Lawrence High School, where he served as class president all four years, captained the track team, and earned letters in football and basketball. He was a member of the 1914 Lawrence High School football team that defeated rival Lowell 20 to 0 on Thanksgiving Day.Lawrence Eagle-Tribune (Lawrence, Mass.), November 24, 1962. After his first year at Lawrence High School, financial difficulties at home forced him to leave school temporarily. He worked at the Pacific Mills in Lawrence for two years before returning to complete his education.Boston Evening Globe (Boston, Mass.), January 17, 1952, p. 1. "Delaney Airs Alibi" and "Delaney's Story of His Life Told on Witness Stand." He enrolled at Boston College after graduation but left to enlist in the Army at the outset of World War I.Lawrence Tribune (Lawrence, Mass.), February 14, 1968, p. 2.
World War I
Delaney enlisted as a private and was assigned to the 19th Company, 5th Battalion, 151st Depot Brigade at Camp Devens, Massachusetts. He rose through the ranks to corporal, sergeant, and first sergeant. He served with the 69th New York Infantry of the 42nd Rainbow Division and with the 325th Infantry of the 82nd Division, taking part in major engagements including the battles of Verdun and Saint-Mihiel. He was made battalion adjutant and later served as a member of the general staff of the 82nd Division.The Leader: The Newspaper of Greater Lawrence (Lawrence, Mass.), August 12, 1928, p. 1. "Delaney for Senator."
He was wounded on September 9, 1918, on the road leading into Thiaucourt, France, in the preliminary action preceding the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. Special Orders No. 124 dated September 21, 1918, issued by Headquarters, 103rd Infantry, 26th Division, signed by order of Colonel Berry and prepared by Captain Robert G. Watson, Personnel Adjutant, granted First Sergeant Denis W. Delaney permission to wear the wound chevron for that wound.Special Orders No. 124, Headquarters, 103rd Infantry, 26th Division, September 21, 1918. By order of Colonel Berry; signed by Captain Robert G. Watson, Personnel Adjutant. Physical document held by family. He was also wounded on a separate occasion and was gassed during his service. He was cited and decorated for bravery under fire, and was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant, holding a captain's commission in the reserve corps.
The effects of the gas were severe. After the war Delaney weighed only 103 pounds and was given only a few months to live. He spent many years in Hanover, New Hampshire, fighting to regain his health, and he won.Boston Herald (Boston, Mass.), February 12, 1950. "U.S. Tax Collector Delaney is a Man of Multiple Talents."
At the close of the war he earned an A.B. degree from the University of Bordeaux, France, and a certificate in finance from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College.
A 1920 Lawrence newspaper account identified Delaney as having served with the 76th Division, while his 1968 obituary and a 1928 profile identify his service with the 42nd Rainbow Division and the 82nd Division. Soldiers were frequently transferred between units during the war.
Postwar recovery
When Delaney returned from France his health was broken. He first worked for the Robinson-Toohey Company of Lawrence and then for the Horace Partridge Sporting Goods Company of Boston. In September 1920 he went north to Hanover, New Hampshire, home of Dartmouth College, where he opened a haberdashery and sporting goods store adjacent to the college, becoming known to thousands of Dartmouth men throughout the country. He spent eight years in Hanover in total, slowly recovering his strength, before returning to Lawrence and entering the construction business with his brother, William J. Delaney.Lawrence Sun American (Lawrence, Mass.), September 9, 1920, p. 3. "Delaney Will Open Store In Hanover."
Postwar career and education
Back in Lawrence, Delaney and his brother William J. Delaney built a successful construction firm. Their projects included the Eagle Tribune Publishing Plant in Lawrence, the Lawrence and Lynn High School stadiums, Beebe Junior High School in Malden, and several apartment buildings. Characteristically, he spent his evenings continuing his education, earning a certificate in engineering from the Lowell Institute and a bachelor of laws degree from Northeastern University. He married Mary E. Dempsey, a Lawrence schoolteacher he had met while serving on the Lawrence School Committee.Boston Globe (Boston, Mass.), February 15, 1968, p. 26.
In 1933, while building a school in Winchester and another in Bedford, four Lawrence, Massachusetts banks collapsed and wiped out the resources of the business. He was 35 years old, recently married and the father of a young daughter, Patricia, born on March 15. At that time March 15 was the federal individual income tax filing deadline, a fact that was not lost on her father.Boston Daily Globe (Boston, Mass.), May 23, 1944.Library of Congress. "Income Tax Day." https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/april/tax-day.
Political career
In August 1928 Delaney filed nomination papers at the State House for the Democratic nomination for State Senator from the 5th Essex District, comprising Lawrence and Methuen. The Lawrence press noted his war record, his athletic achievements at Lawrence High School, and his standing in the community. He served as an elected member of the Lawrence School Board from 1924 to 1928 and was an unsuccessful candidate for alderman. He served as chair of the Lawrence High School Athletic Advisory Board.
Though Delaney stood high in the councils of the Democratic Party, he was rarely seen in the places where politicians gathered. He had decided long ago that he could do more for the administration he served by staying on the job than by spending time at the State House or the Hotel Bellevue. His loyalty was to the work, and the work spoke for itself.
A fresh start
With his business gone, Delaney applied for work with the Civil Works Administration as a ditch digger. It was the bottom of the ladder and he knew it, but he was not the kind of man to wait for better times. Within eight weeks he had been moved to the administrative side of federal relief. He then joined the Emergency Relief Administration. In August 1939 President Roosevelt named him WPA administrator for Massachusetts.
Works Progress Administration
Delaney was placed in charge of 385,000 workers. Under his administration the Massachusetts WPA oversaw more than 800 projects across 173 cities and towns, employing more than 20,000 white collar workers.The Guardian (Boston, Mass.), May 11, 1940, p. 8. Library of Congress Chronicling America. Available at https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045863/1940-05-11/ed-1/ Projects included major defense infrastructure work such as airbase construction at North Chicopee, Massachusetts, projected to employ between 2,000 and 3,000 workers.Springfield Weekly Republican (Springfield, Mass.), November 30, 1939, p. 14. Library of Congress Chronicling America. Available at https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83020847/1939-11-30/ed-1/ During the February 1940 blizzard he negotiated federal emergency funds from Washington for snow removal to reach isolated Massachusetts families.Springfield Weekly Republican (Springfield, Mass.), February 22, 1940, p. 7. Library of Congress Chronicling America. Available at https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83020847/1940-02-22/ed-1/ In May 1940 he organized a statewide open house running May 20 to 25, at which Eleanor Roosevelt addressed a series of suppers on the opening evening. As the United States moved toward war, Delaney attended national coordination meetings between Army officers and WPA authorities to subordinate non-defense projects to the war effort.Waterbury Democrat (Waterbury, Conn.), December 17, 1941, p. 16. Library of Congress Chronicling America. Available at https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn82014085/1941-12-17/ed-1/ The WPA was liquidated in 1943 and most of its workers transitioned to war work.
Collector of Internal Revenue
President Roosevelt appointed Delaney Collector of Internal Revenue for the District of Massachusetts on February 1, 1944. Two months after taking office, Delaney was summoned to Washington by President Roosevelt. At that meeting Roosevelt told him to keep in mind two things: collect money as quickly as possible and get it into the treasury, and keep people in business. Delaney later testified that he came back to Boston with renewed vigor, as he said every man did who ever talked to Roosevelt, and tried to carry out exactly what the President had asked. President Truman reappointed him to a second term in approximately 1949.
The office Delaney inherited ranked last in efficiency among all Class A offices in the nation. Records were incomplete, letters went unanswered, taxpayer complaints arrived at 200 per week, and there was a general sense among Massachusetts taxpayers that they were not being properly served. Delaney took it as a challenge. For the first six months he worked 18 hours a day, seven days a week. It took four years, but he brought the office to first place among all Class A collector's offices in the nation, ranking first in collecting taxes that were collectible, first in deposits, first in responding to correspondence, and first in what the Treasury Department officially rated as courtesy and service to taxpayers. Complaint letters fell from 200 per week to fewer than one per month.
His method was simple and personal. He required that every complaint come directly to his desk. He investigated each one himself, corrected what was wrong where the complaint was legitimate, and acknowledged each letter by return mail. He also made a practice of walking through every department in the building twice daily to speak with employees, and he made changes to make their work more efficient and more pleasant. The office received more mail than any other office in Massachusetts and handled more money than Brinks.
He fought for years to move the office out of inadequate quarters on Milk Street. Using his background as a construction engineer, he supervised the conversion of the Old Post Office garage on Ipswich Street into a modern facility capable of processing tax returns at scale. The Treasury Department funded the move.
In that role he was responsible for the collection of approximately $2 billion in taxes annually from 2.5 million Massachusetts residents. One profile noted that any private sector executive running a $2 billion operation would command a salary well into six figures, while Delaney's government pay was, by comparison, a pittance. He was not the slightest bit envious.
On May 22, 1944, his wife Mary E. Delaney of Lawrence served as sponsor at the launching of the USS SC-1503 at the Calderwood Yacht Yard in Manchester, Massachusetts.
Entertainment and public life