DELTA AIR LINES
became the sole owner of the establishment and continued its operation for nearly 40 years. When her son later joined in the business, the firm was renamed E. B. Delaney and Son Funeral Home and expanded to include a second funeral establishment in Cincinnati. As a businesswoman, Elizabeth was one of the first women to serve on the Board of Directors of the National Negro Business League, founded in 1900 by Booker T. Washington. Also, she was an active member of the National Association of Black Funeral Home Directors. She was an active member of the First Baptist Church (African American) in Covington and served in many roles, including 12 years as the church’s treasurer. Another area of commitment for Delaney was the State and Local Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs. She was elected president of the Ladies Improvement Club in Covington and in 1926 became the 11th president of the Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs in Kentucky. Delaney’s interest in youths led her to promote the establishment of junior clubs for young girls in affi liation with the federation. Delaney’s executive ability and eloquence in public speaking, coupled with her interest in civic affairs and women’s suff rage, positioned her for numerous leadership roles. She was the first African American Chairwoman of the Colored Women Voters of Kenton Co. and used her influence to stake a claim for African American women voters within the Republican Party. Moreover, she became a member of the Kentucky Commission on Interracial Cooperation and attended the first Southern Women and Race Cooperation Conference held in 1920 in Memphis, Tenn. Delaney was instrumental in establishing several chapters of the Order of Eastern Star and other civic organizations throughout Northern Kentucky. She was an active member and served in multiple roles with each organization. Following a brief illness, Delaney died at age 82 in 1964 and was buried at the Mary E. Smith Cemetery in Elsmere. “Colored Notes and News,” Lexington Leader, February 18, 1964, 14. “Elizabeth Delaney,” KP, February 20, 1964, 14K. “Our President,” Kentucky Club Woman 8, no. 3 (July 1926), in the John and Elizabeth Delaney Collection, Center of Excellence for the Study of Kentucky African Americans, Kentucky State Univ.
Anne S. Butler
DELANEY, JOHN W., JR., “JACK” (b. September 5, 1912, Latonia; Ky.; d. May 17, 1991, Cincinnati, Ohio). Judge and businessman Jack Delaney was the only child of John W. and Elizabeth B. Delaney. He attended Covington’s LincolnGrant School, commonly known as the Seventh St. School, and graduated from William Grant High School in 1929. He was a classmate of World War II hero Maj. Melvin W. Walker. Delaney became active in his mother’s funeral business, Elizabeth B. Delaney & Son Funeral Home in Covington. Later he earned a bachelor’s degree at the
University of Cincinnati; he also graduated from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law in Cincinnati, from the Cincinnati College of Embalming, and from Cincinnati’s Cosmopolitan School of Music. In 1966 Delaney was named the fi rst African American judge pro tem in Kenton Co. Seventeen years later, the job title was changed to deputy judge executive, making Delaney Kenton Co.’s second-highest-ranking official. He wrote the articles of incorporation of the Northern Kentucky Community Council, which evolved into the Northern Kentucky Community Center. In conjunction with the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church and the St. James A.M.E. Church, both in Covington, he helped to develop the Geisler Garden apartments as low-income housing units. Delaney was the historian of his Masonic Order lodge and later became a 33rd degree Mason, at which level he served as a member of the Supreme Council. He was a Grand Master of Prince Hall Masonic Grand Lodge, president of the National Funeral Directors Association, and eastern vice president of Epsilon Nu Delta Mortuary fraternity. He was a member of the First Baptist Church (African American) of Covington, where he served on the board of trustees as treasurer for many years and as organist for the senior choir. In 1991 Delaney died in Cincinnati and was buried in Mary E. Smith Cemetery, in Elsmere. “John Delaney, Funeral Director, Public Servant,” CP, May 18, 1991, 9A. Neikirk, Mark. “Kenton County’s No. 2 Man Shuns the Limelight,” KP, February 7, 1983, 1K. “New Attorneys,” KTS, April 24, 1958, 15A. “Pass Bar Examination,” KTS, April 17, 1958, 1A.
Theodore H. H. Harris
DELIA. Delia was located in Grant Co. on Clark’s Creek at the junction of Baton Rouge Rd. and the Dry Ridge–Owenton Rd., better known today as Ky. Rt. 22. An early road long since abandoned, known as the Withers (Weathers) Mill Rd., paralleled Clark’s Creek past Delia to the mouth of Clark’s Creek at Eagle Creek. A water-powered gristmill, first known as Ruddle’s Mill, was located a few hundred feet upstream from Delia. An outline of the mill sluice on the west side of Clark’s Creek may still be found. By 1832 the mill was called the Baton Rouge Mill. John A. D. Barrows and James C. Hall, the last-known operators of the mill, acquired the operation in 1840. In 1868 the boundaries of the Smokey Road School, District 49, included white children at Delia on the east side of Clark’s Creek. A post office was established at Delia in 1890 but discontinued in 1905. Will “Red Brush” Carter operated a smithy, and Frank and Lowe operated a general store in the community. John W. Gardner purchased and ran the store until he sold out in 1913. Bud and Harold Maines, brothers, operated the store until it was closed in 1930. By the 1950s, there were no longer any businesses or residences at Delia.
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Conrad, John B., ed. History of Grant County. Williamstown, Ky.: Grant Co. Historical Society, 1992.
John B. Conrad
DELTA AIR LINES. Delta Air Lines was the first provider of jet air ser vice to Northern Kentucky. If the boll weevil had not spread from Mexico in the early 1890s to devastate the cotton fields of the southern United States, Delta Air Lines might never have come to exist. Because the weevil’s relentless destruction posed a serious economic threat to the southern economy, C. E. Woolman, an agricultural agent associated with Louisiana State University, sought to use a new technology—the airplane—as an effective way to eradicate this pesky insect. Thus began the story of Delta Air Lines. Started as a crop-dusting operation, Delta began passenger ser vice in 1929, and by the end of that year, its route system extended from Alabama to Texas. By 1941 new destinations had been added to Delta’s growing network. Delta moved its corporate headquarters from Monroe, La. (MON), its birthplace, to Atlanta (ATL) that year. Cincinnati was a factor in the decision to move. The Civil Aeronautics Board had recently granted Delta the authority to fly from ATL north to Knoxville (TYS) and Cincinnati Lunken Airport (LUK) and south to Savannah (SAV). This made Atlanta a more desirable central location, a hub, for a general office and maintenance base. Delta began serving Cincinnati on April 15, 1941, with twice-daily ser vice to the city’s eastside Lunken Airport (LUK), using twin-engine Douglas DC-3s. The fl ight to Atlanta took two hours and 45 minutes and cost $19.50 each way. With the completion of the Greater Cincinnati Airport (CVG) in Northern Kentucky in 1947 (see Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport), Delta offered ser vice on the new and “fast” four-engine Douglas DC-4 equipment, which reduced flight time to ATL to less than two hours. Interchange agreements with other airlines at CVG connected Delta passengers with other parts of the country. In 1947 63,542 passengers flew Delta from CVG. Delta brought Northern Kentucky its first jet ser vice in 1960, with nonstop Convair 880 ser vice to Miami (MIA) at a cruising speed of more than 600 miles per hour. CVG’s first “night coach” service began in 1961, with Douglas DC-8 ser vice to Miami (MIA) and Detroit (DTW). In 1969 Delta became the leading airline at CVG. Ser vice continued to grow at a steady rate during the 1970s and 1980s, as a result of deregulation of the airline industry in 1977 during the Jimmy Carter administration. In 1984 Comair, a regional commuter airline headquartered at CVG, joined with Delta as one of its Delta Connection carriers. Comair became part of Delta’s reservation system and shared fl ight numbers (codes) and terminal facilities at CVG. Passengers could conveniently and seamlessly connect between Delta and Comair fl ights. Later, Delta bought Comair. On December 15, 1986, the “largest single-day expansion” in the company’s 57-year history, Delta