TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview of Collection

Restrictions

Administrative Information

Family History

Scope and Content of the Records

Arrangement of the Records

The Morristown and Morris Township Library
One Miller Road
Morristown, NJ 07960

Finding Aid to the Raymond B. DeChiara Papers, 1905 - 2005 (bulk dates 1937 - 1990).

Restrictions

Important Information for Users of the Papers

This collection is open for research under the conditions set forth in the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center archives access policy. All archival material should be handled with care and kept in its original order; notes may only be taken in pencil or with a computer, and food and drink are prohibited in the Reading Room. Records may be copied for scholarly or personal research using the edge scanner or a digital camera without flash; however, researchers must obtain copyright permission prior to publishing material from the collection.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Raymond B. DeChiara Papers, 1905 - 2005, North Jersey History and Genealogy Center, Morristown and Morris Township Library.

Processing Information

Processed, described and encoded by Jeffrey V. Moy, Archivist, August 2018.

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Family History

Raymond DeChiara was born to Raphael “Ralph” (1886 – 1968) and Lucia “Lucy” Barone DeChiara (1887 – 1957), and he grew up in the family home on 25 Abbott Avenue in Morristown, where his father Ralph owned his own business as a painter and decorator, while his mother Lucy worked at Epstein’s Department Store. DeChiara attended Morristown High School, until his studies were interrupted in 1943 when he was drafted into the Army during World War II.

During the war, Raymond served in the Army Air Force Division (the pre-cursor to the Air Force), and spent much of his service training in the American Southwest, including stints in Nevada and Texas. By 1945 Raymond had graduated to 2nd Engineer and Gunner on the B-29 aircraft, which meant that he acted as one of the plane’s gunners and was responsible for ground repairs and maintenance; and in the event that the main engineer was incapacitated in flight then he would take over.

Upon returning home, DeChiara returned to Morristown High School and graduated with the class of 1947. Raymond married Frances “Dee Dee” Antonaccio (1922 – 1989) in 1951, and together they raised a son, Ray, and two daughters, Lisa and Clare in their Morristown home on 76 Western Avenue. Frances was born in New York to Martin (1887 - ) and Sophia Antonaccio (1887 - ), both of whom were born in Italy; according to the 1940 census the Antonaccio family lived at 81 Water Street in Morristown with their four daughters, Gilestine (1920 - ), Sophia Olivio (1922 - ), Fanny (1923 - ), and Frances (1930 - ). Raymond’s brother in law, Harry C. Bolton owned the "Flying A Gas Station" on Morris Street, and his sister-in-law, Ann DeCaro DeChiara was Secretary to the President of the Mennen Company.

Raymond joined the Morristown Police Department as an officer in 1956, followed by a stint as Tax Collector starting in 1958. As post-World War II suburbanization presented city centers with new competition from shopping malls with ample parking Morristown's leaders proposed redeveloping the business district north of the Morristown Green and flanked by Speedwell Avenue, Water Street, and Spring Street as a means of making the downtown competitive with neighboring suburbs. DeChiara was appointed Director of Urban Renewal in 1965 and was charged with leading the city’s efforts to transform this section of Morristown for the twenty-first century. In this capacity, DeChiara worked closely with Assistant Director of Morristown Urban Renewal, Norman O. Lattimore, as well as the Mayor and Town Council.

Work on what would become known as Headquarters Plaza started in earnest in 1967, and within one year federal funds were made available to begin the planning phase with a series of surveys and land appraisals, as well as plans for relocating displaced businesses and residents. The neighborhood fire house and two historic houses were relocated in 1969, with major demolition and excavation of the project site conducted between 1970 and 1973. Plans called for two fifteen-story office towers, a 285 room hotel, recreational facilities including a tennis court and movie theater, and a two-level retail space approximately half the size of the Livingston Mall.

A legal dispute with the developer stalled construction through much of the 1970s, and DeChiara’s frustration, as well and that of local residents, is evident in local press coverage of the ensuing court hearings. Critics of the project cited its potential drain on neighboring businesses and the towering site’s effect of isolating the remaining residential and business community on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, to the north. Nevertheless, the Town Council and civic leaders cited the predicted $1.2 million in rateable’s generated by Headquarters Plaza, as opposed to the $32,000 per year contributed by existing properties as a positive step for Morristown taxpayers. The first office tower opened with a flag raising ceremony on September 7, 1980, and after construction was completed in 1988 prominent law firms and companies, including AT and T and the United States Secret Service, maintained offices in Headquarters Plaza.

What began under the leadership of Mayor David Manahan spanned the administrations of Mayors Marco Stirone, Victor Woodhull, Donald Cresitello, Emilio Gervasio, and David Manahan again; Raymond DeChiara, however, saw the project through to its final completion. By 1988, DeChiara had left the urban planning office to become vice president of the Headquarters Plaza firm of Olnick, Fisher Development Associates. Until his retirement, DeChiara never lived more than a mile from the intersection of Speedwell Avenue and Spring Street, anchoring his family with the fortunes and well-being of the neighborhood. Raymond B. DeChiara died on June 3, 2015 in Scottsdale Arizona, and was survived by his wife Frances, daughters Clare and Lisa, and his son Ray.

References:

- Raymond B. DeChiara obituary, Daily Record, June 7, 2015

- Federal Census, 1940

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Scope and Content of the Records

The Raymond DeChiara Papers encompass three generations of this Morristown family, from Raphael and Lucia’s emigration from Italy and service to the United States armed forces during World War I, to starting their own business in Morristown, as well as their children’s own war service during the Second World War, and Raymond DeChiara’s career while raising a family of his own.

The bulk of the collections consists of Raymond DeChiara’s personal and business papers, most notably of his time in High School, World War II military service, and work life as a police officer, tax collector, and longtime head of Morristown’s urban renewal efforts.

While deployed overseas Raymond kept regular correspondence with his parents, siblings, and friends, including Rocco Cifrese with whom he often discussed his aspiration to join the Air Force Aerodynamics Division. Letters from his parents Ralph and Lucy frequently mention daily life in Morristown, war news (including Paris falling to the Allies), and Raymond’s military training and how it might increase his job prospects after the war with his father advising him to gain experience as a radio engineer.

DeChiara’s war correspondence describes his classwork and training to fly the B-29 Superfortress. Letters from home typically include news of family and neighbors, going to the movies, and updates on classmates who are also deployed. Raymond’s August 1945 correspondence describes celebrations ending the war and his uncertainty over the Army’s plans for his squadron following Japan’s surrender in which he is unsure if he will be discharged, moved to a base closer to home, or kept in service.

The materials include personal correspondence, school and church records, family photographs, and documentation of DeChiara’s career as Director of Urban Renewal in Morristown, including work to improve local streets, create affordable housing, and efforts to make the downtown business district competitive with neighboring towns through the Headquarters Plaza Project.

Notable items in the collection include a series of aerial photographs depicting Morristown’s level of development during the 1930s, as well as a group of ground level photographs of the downtown storefronts and residences along Speedwell Avenue and Spring Street that were slated for removal in the 1960s. Additional photographs and slides illustrate special events around Morristown from the 1960s through early 1990s, in addition to the everyday lives of the DeChiara family.

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Arrangement of the Records

The papers are organized into three series: I. Family Papers, II. Professional Papers, III. Morristown Events. The records within each sub-series are arranged chronologically.

Series I (Family Papers) is broken down into six sub-series: 1. Raphael DeChiara, 2. Raymond DeChiara, 3. Morristown High School, 4. Church, 5. World War II, and 6. Family Photographs.

Series II (Professional Papers) is organized into eleven sub-series: 1. Police Department, 2. Tax Collector, 3. Headquarters Plaza, 4. Road Beautification, 5. Spring Street Project, 6.Town Council, 7. General, 8. Morristown Municipal Airport, 9. Headquarters Plaza Mall, 10. Professional Deliberations, and 11. Democratic Party.

Series III (Morristown Events) is comprised of one sub-series: Morristown Events.

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