Hugh De Lacy (politician)
Emerson Hugh De Lacy (May 9, 1910 – August 19, 1986)[1] was an American politician and socialist. He served on the Seattle City Council from 1937 to 1940 and as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1945 to 1947. He represented the First Congressional District of Washington as a Democrat.
Hugh De Lacy | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 1st district | |
| In office January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947 | |
| Preceded by | Warren G. Magnuson |
| Succeeded by | Homer R. Jones |
| Member of the Seattle City Council | |
| In office 1937–1940 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Emerson Hugh De Lacy May 9, 1910 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | August 19, 1986 (aged 76) Soquel, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | Communist Party USA |
| Spouse(s) | Betty De Lacy (divorced) Hester Sondergaard |
Early years
De Lacy was born in Seattle, Washington, and educated in the public schools of the Queen Anne section of Seattle. He graduated from the University of Washington with a master of arts degree in 1932.[1]
Career
From 1933 to 1937, De Lacy taught English at the University of Washington.[1]
De Lacy was elected to the Seattle City Council in 1937.[2] He was subsequently elected as president of the Washington Commonwealth Federation, a left-wing faction within the Washington State Democratic Party that included a number of members of the Communist Party USA.[3] He was re-elected and served on Seattle City Council until 1940.[4]
Louis Budenz named De Lacy as a covert Communist in 1948.[5] According to historian of American Communism Harvey Klehr, De Lacy was a secret member of the Communist Party USA at the time of his 1937 election.[2]
De Lacy's party membership was first publicly confirmed by the former Executive Secretary of the Washington Commonwealth Federation, Howard Costigan, who declared in sworn testimony delivered to the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1954 that he had sat with De Lacy on the governing bureau of the Seattle district of the CPUSA from 1937 to 1939.[6]
De Lacy was elected to the United States Congress in 1944, replacing fellow Democrat Warren G. Magnuson who had retired from the House to run (successfully) for United States Senate. De Lacy was defeated by Republican Homer Jones in the 1946 election.
In 1947, De Lacy became editor of the Bulletin of the Machinists' Union in Seattle. From 1948 to 1950, he was state director of the Progressive Party of Ohio. He became a carpenter in 1951, and in 1960 he became a general building contractor. He retired from that role in 1967.[1]
DeLacy and his Washington Commonwealth Federation held monthly community fundraisers they called hootenannies.[7] They introduced folk singers Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger to the word when they came to visit Seattle in 1941, who went on to popularize it as term for a folk music jam.[7]
Personal life
On October 24, 1947, De Lacy was divorced from Betty De Lacy.[8] In 1949, De Lacy married actress Hester Sondergaard.[9]
Death
On August 19, 1986, De Lacy died in Soquel, California after battling cancer for four years.[1][10]
References
- "DELACY, Emerson Hugh, (1910 - 1986)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Archived from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- Harvey Klehr, The Heyday of American Communism: The Depression Decade. New York: Basic Books, 1984; pg. 256.
- Paul de Graaf, "Washington Commonwealth Federation," in Mari Jo Buhle, Paul Buhle, and Dan Georgakas (eds.), Encyclopedia of the American Left. First Edition. New York: Garland Publishing, 1990; pg. 820.
- Biog. notes regarding his papers at the University of Washington Libraries-- http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv83805
- The Olympian, Olympia, Washington, January 28, 1948, Page 14, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123425826/hugh-de-lacy-named-as-a-communist-by/
- "Testimony of Howard Costigan," Investigation of Communist Activities in the Pacific Northwest Area — Part 1: Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-Third Congress, Second Session; October 3, 1952; March 16, May 28, June 2 and 9, 1954. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1954; pg. 5987.
- Hendrickson, Stewart. "Hootenannies in Seattle". pnwfolklore.org. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Mrs. Hugh DeLacy Is Given Divorce". Spokane Chronicle. Washington, Spokane. Associated Press. October 25, 1947. p. 10. Retrieved 31 July 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- "On Honeymoon". Reno Gazette-Journal. Nevada, Reno. July 11, 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- Daily News, New York, New York August 21, 1986, Page 285, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123425671/obituary-for-hugh-de-lacy/
External links
- United States Congress. "Hugh De Lacy (id: D000206)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Hugh DeLacy papers. 1938-1985. 4.87 cubic feet (11 boxes, 1 map tube, 1 package). At the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.