Delbert Martin Mann Jr. was born on January 30, 1920, in Lawrence, Kansas, to Delbert Mann Sr. and Ora (Patton) Mann (died 1961). His father taught sociology at the University of Kansas from 1920 to 1926. In 1926, the Manns left Lawrence and moved to Pennsylvania and then Chicago before finally settling in Nashville in 1931.George R. Zepp, Hidden History of Nashville, The History Press, 2009 page 77 There, his father continued to teach sociology at the Scarritt College for Christian Workers. His mother was also a schoolteacher.
