Cornelius F. Desmond Jr. (October 4, 1893 – October 2, 1974) was an American politician who served in the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...
and as
City Manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...
of
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...
.
Early life
Desmond was born on October 4, 1893, in
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfieldâ ...
.
He attended Lowell public schools and graduated from
Lowell High School.
A standout baseball player, Desmond went on to for a number of play semi-pro baseball teams.
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Desmond served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
. After the war, he worked in the circulation department of newspapers in Boston and New York. In the 1930s, Desmond worked as a supervisor for the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
.
Political career
In 1940, Desmond was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He would go on to serve a total of 11 terms. He served on a number of important committees, including a stint as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
In 1962, Desmond was named City Manager of Lowell and resigned from the House shortly after that. He served as city manager for 22 months before he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 and had to leave office.
Later life and death
Desmond remained in Lowell after his retirement. He died on October 2, 1974, at St. John's Hospital in Lowell.
See also
* Massachusetts legislature:
1941–1942,
1943–1944,
1945–1946,
1947–1948,
1949–1950,
1951–1952,
1953–1954,
1955–1956
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desmond, Cornelius
1893 births
1974 deaths
20th-century American legislators
City managers of Lowell, Massachusetts
Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
Politicians from Pittsfield, Massachusetts
United States Army personnel of World War I
20th-century Massachusetts politicians