In 2009, freelance writer Monique Y. Wells was researching an article on African-American gravesites in Paris when she learned that Delaney was buried in an unmarked grave at the Parisian Cemetery of Thiais. She discovered that Delaney's remains would be exhumed before the end of the year if the "concession" (the equivalent of a lease) on his grave was not renewed. Friends of Delaney gathered the sum required, and Wells paid the fee to the cemetery to preserve Delaney's resting place.