James Whyte Kelly Jr. (1911–1990) was an American Republican Party politician who was Mayor of East Orange, New Jersey from 1958 to 1970. He held a number of other civic positions, including being president of the New Jersey Council of Mayors.

Personal life

Kelly was born in

West Haverstraw, New York West Haverstraw is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village incorporated in 1883 in the town of Haverstraw, New York, Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York, Rockland County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is located n ...

in 1911. He graduated from

Bound Brook High School Bound Brook High School is a comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Bound Brook, in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the ...

in 1929 and attended

Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German pat ...

where he was a member of

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters an ...

. He was a member of the Middlebrook Players, a thespian company. He married Louise Harriet Wild, daughter of John Wild in May 1937.Couple Wedded In Bound Brook on Saturday, The Central New Jersey Home News (New Brunswick, New Jersey) May 2, 1937, page 10, accessed December 28, 2017 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16065749/Vote Republican dvertisement The Courier-News (Bridgewater, New Jersey) 31 Oct 1946, page 4, accessed December 28, 2017 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16066041/vote_republican_advertisement_the/ In 1965, Kelly, then a widower, married Essex County Freeholder Margaret G. Marucci, a widow. Kelly received the designation of Outstanding Irishman of 1958 by the Patrick's Guard of Honor of New Jersey, a body of which he was president in 1975.

Career

After college he worked at the

Public Service Electric and Gas Company The Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc. (PSEG) is a publicly traded energy company based in Newark, New Jersey. It was founded in 1985, with its roots tracing back to 1903. Its largest subsidiary is Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE ...

. In the 1940s he served as a city councilman in

Middlesex, New Jersey Middlesex is a borough in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located within the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 14,636, its highest decennial count and an increas ...

and worked as a purchasing agent for Interchemical Corporation. Kelly was active in the local

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

, served on the local board, and was president of the YMCA industrial council. In 1943, Kelly joined Bound Brook company, R. B. H. Dispersions, starting as an assistant purchasing agent and being promoted to purchasing agent in June 1944. Kelly was appointed special assistant to the divisional president of the R. B. H. Dispersions in 1947. Kelly left the city council in 1951. Kelly also served as President of the Essex County Board of Taxation in the early 1950s. Kelly served as Mayor of East Orange, New Jersey, from 1958 to 1970. Kelly was the first democratic mayor of East Orange since 1911 and defeated William M. McConnell in an upset. In 1968, Kelly served as president of the New Jersey Council of Mayors. Kelly was defeated in 1969 by

William S. Hart William Surrey Hart (December 6, 1864 – June 23, 1946) was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered as a foremost Western star of the silent era who "imbued all of his characters with honor and integ ...

, the first elected black mayor of a major New Jersey community.Black Mayor Takes Office, The Central New Jersey Home News (New Brunswick, New Jersey) 2 Jan 1970, page 8, accessed December 28, 2017 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16067974/ He died in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, James W. 1911 births 1990 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in New Jersey Mayors of East Orange, New Jersey Bound Brook High School alumni Muhlenberg College alumni