Claiborne deBorda Pell was born on November 22, 1918 in New York City to Matilda Bigelow Pell and Herbert Claiborne Pell. The Pell family lineage includes five members of Congress and George Mifflin Dallas, who was Vice President to President James Polk, 1845-1849. Senator Pell’s father served as a United States Congressman from New York, 1919-1921, as well as Minister to Portugal, 1937-1941, Minister to Hungary, 1941-1942, and a United States Representative to the United Nations War Crimes Commission 1943-1945.
Senator Pell attended St. Georges High School in Middletown, Rhode Island, graduated from Princeton University in 1940, and received a Masters degree from Columbia University in 1946. He joined the United States Coast Guard four months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the start of World War II. Senator Pell continued his service after the war and attained the rank of Senior Captain in 1978.
After graduating from Columbia University, Pell participated in the San Francisco Conference that culminated in the creation of the United Nations and established the United States Consulate General in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia after the communists seized control of that nation. Senator Pell then served as a State Department Foreign Service Officer stationed in Eastern Europe and Italy for seven years.
After leaving the Foreign Service, Pell served as Vice President for the International Rescue Committee. He was stationed in Austria and assumed responsibility for assisting refugees from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. During this time, Pell was arrested and placed in jail by agents from three fascist governments and three communist governments. In 1959, President Eisenhower appointed Pell to the delegation meeting on the International Maritime Consultative Organization. Senator Pell has received more than 20 decorations for his service including the Presidential Citizens Medal.
In 1960, Senator Pell was elected to the United States Senate and served for the next six terms as the Senator from Rhode Island until his retirement in 1996. He won his first Senate race by the largest plurality of that time and is the longest serving Senator in Rhode Island’s history. He has served as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Education. Senator Pell also served as ranking member on the Labor and Welfare Committee, Rules and Administration Committee, Executive Committee on the Environment and Energy Study, as well as the Special Committee on Aging, and the Joint Congressional Committee on Libraries and Museums.
Senator Pell’s appointments included being Senate Advisor to the United States delegation to the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, delegate to the 25th United Nations General Assembly (1970), Senate Advisor to the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT), and a member of the Commission on Improving the Effectiveness of the United Nations. Senator Pell also played a principle role in outlawing the placement of weapons of massive destruction on the seabed and to ensure international cooperation in protection of the environment.
Senator Pell was the principal sponsor of the 1965 legislation creating the National Endowment for Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He authored the National Sea Grant College and Program Act of 1966 which provides annual funding for oceanographic studies. He is also the author of the Basic Educational Opportunity Grants (renamed Pell Grants in 1980), that eliminate financial barriers to higher education. He was a driving force in the Senate to establish the International Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty aimed at reducing nuclear weapons, in addition to authoring legislation banning the manufacture and use of biological weapons.
Senator Pell also served as a member of the Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving and was the original Senate advocate for tougher penalties against those caught driving while intoxicated. He also authored the High Speed Ground Transportation Act aimed at improving rail service including the establishment of a continuous electrification infrastructure between Washington, D.C., New York, and Boston.
Senator Pell passed away on January 1, 2009. In addition to his wife Nuala, Senator Pell is survived by his son, Christopher T. H. Pell of Newport, his daughter Dallas Pell of New York, his five grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
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Claiborne Pell Senatorial Papers, Congresses, Mss. Gr. 71.3, University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections.
The Congresses series consist of subject files arranged chronologically by congressional session (every two years). The records include correspondence, speeches, reports and memoranda.
Sub-Group 3: Congresses, contains the following:
The Senatorial Papers of Claiborne Pell were gifted to the University of Rhode Island by Mrs. Nuala Pell in April 2012. The records were deposited to the University of Rhode Island in a series of transfers, 1974-2006.
The records were kept in Senator Pell's Washington and Providence offices before being transferred to the University of Rhode Island.
The records were processed by Mark Dionne in 2007.
The materials related to this collection can be found in the Pell Family Papers and Pre-Senate subgroups.
The series contains records regarding the activities of the Pell Administration during the first and second sessions of the 87th Congress, 1961-1962. The records also include documents that predate and postdate the 87th Congress. The correspondence and memoranda consist of communications with constituents, congressional colleagues, White House officials, heads of federal government and state government departments and agencies, and non-government organizations. Subjects include the Berlin crisis, civil rights legislation, segregation, wire tapping, and the “Freedom Riders” bill, as well as human rights violations in communist countries, nuclear fall-out shelters, House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), and the Peace Corps.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject.
The series contains records regarding the activities of the Pell Administration during the first and second sessions of the 87th Congress, 1963-1964. The records also include documents that predate and postdate the 88th Congress. The correspondence and memoranda consist of communications with constituents, congressional colleagues, White House officials, heads of federal government and state government departments and agencies, and non-government organizations.
Subjects include records regarding the National Council on the Arts, 1964 Civil Rights Act, Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Vietnam, Berlin, Soviet Union, and the Youth Conservation Corps. Records also include letters of requests and commentary on a two volume report that Senator Pell authorized called "Profile of Youth" which contains authoritative statistical data on the nation’s youth.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject.
The series contains records regarding the activities of the Pell Administration during the first and second sessions of the 89th Congress, 1965-1966. The records also include documents that predate and postdate the 89th Congress. Correspondence and memoranda consist of written communications with constituents, congressional colleagues, Executive Branch officials, political groups, businesses, and other non-government organizations.
Subjects include the establishment of a National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, civil rights legislation, Sea Grant Colleges legislation, as well as issues involving foreign relations with the Soviet Union, China, and the Dominican Republic. The series also contains records regarding Senator Pell’s proposal for handling the Berlin Crisis and his confidential trip to Cuba in 1962.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject.
The series contains records regarding the activities of the Pell Administration during the first and second sessions of the 90th Congress, 1967-1968. The records also include documents that predate and postdate the 90th Congress. Correspondence and memoranda consist of communications with constituents, congressional colleagues, White House officials, heads of federal government and state government departments and agencies, and non-government organizations.
Subjects include legislation regarding the arts and humanities, higher education, civil rights, ocean space, and the United States Information Agency. Other subjects include nuclear non-proliferation treaties, human rights investigations, Vietnam conflict, as well as the1968 Democratic Convention, Law of the Sea Treaty and the war in Vietnam.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject.
The series contains records regarding the activities of the Pell Administration during the first and second sessions of the 91st Congress, 1969-1970. The records also include documents that predate and postdate the 91st Congress. Correspondence and memoranda consist of communications with constituents, congressional colleagues, White House officials, and heads of federal and state government departments and agencies, as well as representatives from non-government organizations.
Subjects include policy issues regarding Ocean Space legislation, Foreign Relations Committee, and the Vietnam War including correspondence with servicemen and their families.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject.
The series contains records regarding the activities of the Pell Administration during the first and second sessions of the 92nd Congress, 1971-1972. The records also include documents that predate and postdate the 92nd Congress. The correspondence and memoranda consist of communications with constituents, congressional colleagues, White House officials, heads of federal and state departments and agencies, as well as correspondence with representatives from non-government organizations.
Subjects include the military spending, Vietnam, nuclear test bans, maritime legislation, as well as topics relating to campaigns, energy policy, and social issues.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject.
The series contains records regarding the activities of the Pell Administration during the first and second sessions of the 93rd Congress, 1973-1974. The records also include documents that predate and postdate the 93rd Congress. The correspondence and memoranda includes communications with constituents, congressional colleagues, White House officials, heads of federal government and state government departments and agencies, and non-government organizations.
Subjects include United States foreign policy towards Vietnam, Greece, Chile, Cuba and the Soviet Union, as well as issues relating to human rights, Nixon impeachment, naval base closures, and arms sales. Subjects also include the National Energy Emergency Act, fuel oil supplies, food safety, consumer protection, and prescription drug surveillance.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject.
The series contains records regarding the activities of the Pell Administration during the first and second sessions of the 94th Congress, 1975-1976. The records also include documents that predate and postdate the 94th Congress. The correspondence and memoranda consist of communications with constituents, congressional colleagues, White House officials, federal officials and state officials, as well as correspondence with representatives from non-government organizations.
Subjects include arms control, international fishing limits, energy legislation, defense, intelligence, foreign affairs, and arts legislation. Administrative records include memoranda from Senator Pell and his staff regarding elections, constituent concerns, meetings, schedules, legislation, domestic policy and foreign policy.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject.
The series contains records regarding the activities of the Pell Administration during the first and second sessions of the 95th Congress, 1977-1978. The records also include documents that predate and postdate the 95th Congress. The correspondence and memoranda consist of communications with constituents, congressional colleagues, White House officials, federal officials and state officials, as well as correspondence with representatives from non-government organizations.
Subjects include foreign relations issues with Cuba, Pakistan, Panama, Soviet Union, and China. Other topics include legislation regarding land conservation, energy, immigration, and education.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject.
The series contains records regarding the activities of the Pell Administration during the first and second sessions of the 96th Congress, 1979-1980. The records also include documents that predate the 96th Congress. The correspondence and memoranda consist of communications with constituents, congressional colleagues, White House officials, federal officials and state officials, as well as correspondence with representatives from non-government organizations.
The records also include State Department memoranda and correspondence regarding the War Powers Act, Iran hostage crisis, Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and international environmental law on deep sea-bed mining. Subjects relating to foreign relations include human rights issues in the Soviet Union and Ukraine, refugee crises, Helsinki Accords, Law of the Sea Treaty, arms control, Radio Free Europe and Liberty . Records regarding refugees and human rights include issues concerning Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, Tibet, and East Timor.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject.