Claiborne Pell, Family Papers

University Archives and Special Collections
15 Lippitt Road
Kingston, RI 02881-2011
Tel: 401-874-4632

email: archives@etal.uri.edu

Published in 2019

Collection Overview

Title:	Claiborne Pell, Family Papers
Date range:	1829-1992, (bulk 1883-1985)
Creator:	Pell, Claiborne, 1918-2009
Extent:	98 box(es) (51 linear feet)
Abstract:	The Pell Family Papers are a collection of correspondence, legal documents, writings, military documents, photographs, prints, realia and miscellaneous antique items that document the Pell family’s history. The papers are organized separately from the Senatorial Papers of Claiborne Pell, but share the same manuscript designation (Mss. Gr. 71).
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	University Archives and Special Collections
Collection number:	MsG. 71.10

Scope & content

The Pell Family Papers are a collection of correspondence, legal documents, writings, military documents, photographs, prints, realia and miscellaneous antique items that document the Pell family’s history. The papers are organized separately from the Senatorial Papers of Claiborne Pell, but share the same manuscript designation (MsGr. 71).

The collection includes correspondence from Pell’s immediate and extended family that span the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The collections also contains records from Senator Pell’s early and higher education, military service, foreign officer service and Democratic National Committee campaign work before he became a United States Senator in 1960.

Arrangement

The records are arranged into the following series:

• 1. Correspondence
• 2. Subject File
• 3. General Correspondence
• 4. Alphabetical File
• 5. Family History and Reunions
• 6. Education
• 7. Postcards
• 8. Photographs and Prints
• 9. Miscellaneous Items

Biographical Note

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.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	Any qualified person doing scholarly research is permitted to use material housed in the Special Collections Unit.
Use of the materials:	Terms governing use and reproduction: Photocopying and scanning of materials is a fee based service available in the repository and is allowed at the discretion of the Archivist when in compliance to the Unit's policy on copyright and publication.
Preferred citation:	Claiborne Pell, Family Papers, Mss. Gr. 71.10, University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections.
Contact information:	University Archives and Special Collections 15 Lippitt Road Kingston, RI 02881-2011 Tel: 401-874-4632 email: archives@etal.uri.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The Claiborne Pell, Family Papers were deposited to the University of Rhode Island by Senator Pell from 1976-2012. The Papers were gifted by Mrs. Pell in April 2012.
Custodial history:	Custodial HistoryThe records were kept by Senator Pell’s Washington and Providence offices, and residences before being transferred to the University of Rhode Island.
Processing information:	The records were processed by Chloe Zoglio and Mark Dionne in 2019.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Mark Dionne.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Mark Dionne. 2019
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Inventory

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Inventory