Claiborne Pell
Encyclopedia
Claiborne de Borda Pell was a United States Senator
from Rhode Island
, serving six terms from 1961 to 1997, and was best known as the sponsor of the Pell Grant
, which provides financial aid funding to U.S. college students. A Democrat
, he was that state's longest serving senator.
in Newport, Rhode Island
and received an A.B.
in history from Princeton University
in 1940. While at Princeton, he was a member of Colonial Club
and played on the rugby team
.
Pell enlisted in the United States Coast Guard
in 1941, four months before Pearl Harbor
. He served as a ship's cook, and eventually earned a commission. During the war he served on North Atlantic convoy duty and in Sicily and Italy. He received the American Defense Service Medal
, American Campaign Medal
, European Campaign Medal and World War Two Victory Medal for his service during the Second World War. After the war he remained in the United States Coast Guard Reserve
, and eventually retired with the rank of Captain.
From 1945 to 1952, he served in the United States Department of State
as a Foreign Service Officer
in Czechoslovakia
, Italy
, and Washington, D.C.
He was fluent in French, Italian, and Portuguese. In 1946 Pell received an M.A.
in history from Columbia University
.
and former U.S. Senator J. Howard McGrath
in the Democratic primary.
s in 1973, originally known as "Basic Educational Opportunity Grants". The Pell Grants provide financial aid funds to U.S. college students. Pell grants initially provided for grants for prisoners because Pell understood that education while incarcerated resulted in a 65% drop in recidivism rates and that resulted in a safer public. Congress later removed that provision even though no one outside was ever denied a grant because of those given to prisoners. For many years there was more money available than was applied for.
He was the main sponsor of the bill that created the National Endowment for the Arts
and the National Endowment for the Humanities
, and was active as an advocate for mass transportation initiatives and domestic legislation facilitating and conforming to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
.
In 1987 he was among those selected for the United Nations Environment Programme
's Global 500 Roll of Honour
, in the first year that award was established.
He served as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
from 1987-1994.
In 'The Washington Pay-Off; An Insider's View of Corruption in Government' (Copyright 1972; Lyle Stuart, Inc.), author and former lobbyist Robert N. Winter-Berger, wrote about Senator Pell's arrest, during a raid on a New York gay bar, in the early 1960s. In 1993, during the bitter confirmation battle over Roberta Achtenberg
, a lesbian, as Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity in the Department of Housing and Urban Development
, Pell stated that his daughter was a lesbian, and that he hoped that it would not be a barrier to federal employment for her; Achtenberg became the first openly gay person to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Upon his retirement from the Senate, Rhode Island's Newport Bridge
was redesignated the "Claiborne Pell Bridge" and the Pell Center of International Relations and Public Policy was established at Salve Regina University
, in Newport, Rhode Island, Pell's home town.
Senator Pell also received an Honorary Doctorate from Johnson & Wales University
in 1979.
On October 14, 1994, Pell was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal
from President Clinton
.
, Pell in the late 1980s took an active interest into Geller's claims of remote viewing
. On Geller's personal website he states that he was called by Pell and asked to describe a drawing he was looking at that moment. When Geller answered "a dagger with an ivory handle", Pell replied that he had gotten it correct and he was now convinced that Geller was genuine. Gueller reports that Pell was one of the most "forward-looking" and "open-minded people" he had ever met who was very interested in using psychic
powers for peaceful means.
In an 2009 interview with James Randi
, he discusses his experience with Senator Pell who asked him to try and duplicate one of Geller's remote viewing feats. The Senator upon seeing that Randi's drawing matched his own drawing yelled, "I know a trick when I see one and that was not a trick...you have the power!"
, great-great-grandnephew of former Senator and Vice President of the United States
George Mifflin Dallas
and great-great-great-grandnephew of former Senator and Congressman William Charles Cole Claiborne and of former Congressman Nathaniel Herbert Claiborne. He was also a direct descendant of mathematician John Pell
. Pell was one of the heirs to what started out as the Lorillard tobacco fortune, although the family has been out of the Lorillard firm for generations.
Pell married the former Nuala O'Donnell, great-granddaughter of George Huntington Hartford
, and, as such, one of the heirs to the A&P fortune. They had four children: Herbert Claiborne Pell III ("Bertie"), Christopher Thomas Hartford Pell ("Toby"), N. Dallas, and Julia Lorillard Wampage Pell.
Although from a wealthy background, Pell was renowned in Rhode Island for his lack of pretension and his frugality.
At his funeral, one grandson recalled that his grandfather "jogged in actual business suits that had been reluctantly retired" and "drove a Chrysler LeBaron
convertible, which was outfitted with tattered red upholstery, a roof held together with duct tape...when it finally fell apart, he replaced it with a Dodge Spirit
, which he had purchased used from Thrifty Rental Cars
."
His grandson continued, "When I was about twelve, my father owned an eight foot orange Zodiac, with flaky wooden floorboards and a six horsepower engine. My father would let me take it out on my own... On several occasions my grandfather would volunteer to join me. He would arrive at the dock, sit down on the wooden floorboards, wearing, of course, a full suit. Together we'd knife thru the moored boats and wave at passing boaters. Inevitably someone would recognize him, usually it would be a guy standing about ten feet above us in a sixty-foot SeaRay or a large sailboat, pointing and remarking, "Hey, it's Senator Pell down there. How you doing, Senator?" Grandpa would smile, wave back, happy as a clam in the smallest boat in the harbor, dressed as a gentleman, spending time with his family."
In his later years, Pell suffered from Parkinson's Disease
. Pell died on January 1, 2009. He was 90 years old.
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, serving six terms from 1961 to 1997, and was best known as the sponsor of the Pell Grant
Pell Grant
A Pell Grant is money the federal government provides for students who need it to pay for college. Federal Pell Grants are limited to students with financial need, who have not earned their first bachelor's degree or who are not enrolled in certain post-baccalaureate programs, through participating...
, which provides financial aid funding to U.S. college students. A Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, he was that state's longest serving senator.
Early years
Pell attended St. George's SchoolSt. George's School, Newport
St. George's School is a private, Episcopal, coeducational boarding school in Middletown, Rhode Island, USA, just east of the city of Newport. The school was founded in 1896 by the Rev. John Byron Diman, a member of a prominent Rhode Island family. It sits on a hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean...
in Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
and received an A.B.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in history from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1940. While at Princeton, he was a member of Colonial Club
Colonial Club
Colonial Club is one of the ten current eating clubs of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1891, it is the fifth oldest of the clubs. It is located on 40 Prospect Avenue....
and played on the rugby team
Princeton Rugby
The Princeton University Rugby Football Club comprises the rugby union club of Princeton University. The school competes in the Ivy League in Division I of USA Rugby's intercollegiate competition.-Men's team:...
.
Pell enlisted in the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
in 1941, four months before Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
. He served as a ship's cook, and eventually earned a commission. During the war he served on North Atlantic convoy duty and in Sicily and Italy. He received the American Defense Service Medal
American Defense Service Medal
The American Defense Service Medal is a decoration of the United States military, recognizing service before America’s entry into the Second World War but during the initial years of the European conflict.-Criteria:...
, American Campaign Medal
American Campaign Medal
The American Campaign Medal was a military decoration of the United States armed forces which was first created on November 6, 1942 by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt...
, European Campaign Medal and World War Two Victory Medal for his service during the Second World War. After the war he remained in the United States Coast Guard Reserve
United States Coast Guard Reserve
The United States Coast Guard Reserve is the reserve component of the United States Coast Guard. It is organized, trained, administered, and supplied under the direction of the Commandant of the Coast Guard through the Director of Reserve and Leadership....
, and eventually retired with the rank of Captain.
From 1945 to 1952, he served in the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
as a Foreign Service Officer
United States Foreign Service
The United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
He was fluent in French, Italian, and Portuguese. In 1946 Pell received an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in history from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
UN Charter-Drafting Conference in San Francisco
Pell was a participant in the 1945 San Francisco conference that drafted the United Nations charter.Political career
In 1960, Pell won the seat of retiring U.S. Senator Theodore Francis Green after defeating, as an unendorsed outside candidate, two former Governors, Dennis J. RobertsDennis J. Roberts
Dennis Joseph Roberts was an American politician, member of the Democratic Party, who served as 63rd Governor of Rhode Island....
and former U.S. Senator J. Howard McGrath
J. Howard McGrath
James Howard McGrath was an American politician and attorney from the U.S. state of Rhode Island.McGrath, a Democrat, served as U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island before becoming Governor, U.S. Solicitor General, U.S...
in the Democratic primary.
Pell College Education Grants
Pell was largely responsible for the creation of Pell GrantPell Grant
A Pell Grant is money the federal government provides for students who need it to pay for college. Federal Pell Grants are limited to students with financial need, who have not earned their first bachelor's degree or who are not enrolled in certain post-baccalaureate programs, through participating...
s in 1973, originally known as "Basic Educational Opportunity Grants". The Pell Grants provide financial aid funds to U.S. college students. Pell grants initially provided for grants for prisoners because Pell understood that education while incarcerated resulted in a 65% drop in recidivism rates and that resulted in a safer public. Congress later removed that provision even though no one outside was ever denied a grant because of those given to prisoners. For many years there was more money available than was applied for.
He was the main sponsor of the bill that created the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
and the National Endowment for the Humanities
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
, and was active as an advocate for mass transportation initiatives and domestic legislation facilitating and conforming to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea , also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea , which took place from 1973 through 1982...
.
In 1987 he was among those selected for the United Nations Environment Programme
United Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme coordinates United Nations environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices. It was founded as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in June 1972 and has its...
's Global 500 Roll of Honour
Global 500 Roll of Honour
The United Nations Environment Programme established the Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1987 to recognize the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world.The last Global 500 Roll of Honour awards were made in 2003...
, in the first year that award was established.
He served as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It is charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. The Foreign Relations Committee is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid programs as...
from 1987-1994.
In 'The Washington Pay-Off; An Insider's View of Corruption in Government' (Copyright 1972; Lyle Stuart, Inc.), author and former lobbyist Robert N. Winter-Berger, wrote about Senator Pell's arrest, during a raid on a New York gay bar, in the early 1960s. In 1993, during the bitter confirmation battle over Roberta Achtenberg
Roberta Achtenberg
Roberta Achtenberg is an American politician. She currently serves as a Commissioner on the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She served as Assistant Secretary of the U.S...
, a lesbian, as Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity in the Department of Housing and Urban Development
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
, Pell stated that his daughter was a lesbian, and that he hoped that it would not be a barrier to federal employment for her; Achtenberg became the first openly gay person to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Upon his retirement from the Senate, Rhode Island's Newport Bridge
Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge
The Claiborne Pell Bridge, commonly known as the Newport Bridge, is a suspension bridge operated by the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority that spans the East Passage of the Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island , connecting the City of Newport on Aquidneck Island and the Town of Jamestown on...
was redesignated the "Claiborne Pell Bridge" and the Pell Center of International Relations and Public Policy was established at Salve Regina University
Salve Regina University
Salve Regina University is a university in Newport, Rhode Island. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy, the university is a Catholic, co-educational, private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of Rhode Island in 1934. In 1947 the university acquired Ochre Court and welcomed its first class...
, in Newport, Rhode Island, Pell's home town.
Senator Pell also received an Honorary Doctorate from Johnson & Wales University
Johnson & Wales University
Johnson & Wales University is a private, nonprofit, co-educational, career-oriented university with four campuses located throughout the United States. Providence, Rhode Island, USA, is home to JWU's first and largest of four currently operating campuses. Founded as a business school in 1914, by...
in 1979.
On October 14, 1994, Pell was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal
Presidential Citizens Medal
The Presidential Citizens Medal is the second highest civilian award in the United States, second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is awarded by the President of the United States, and may be given posthumously....
from President Clinton
William Clinton
Bill Clinton is the 42nd President of the United States. William Clinton may also refer to:*William de Clinton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon , English nobleman from prominent Norman family dating to William the Conqueror; Lord High Admiral as of 1333*William Henry Clinton , British general from...
.
Interest in the paranormal
According to Uri GellerUri Geller
Uri Geller is a self-proclaimed psychic known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other supposed psychic effects. Throughout the years, Geller has been accused of using simple conjuring tricks to achieve the effects of psychokinesis and telepathy...
, Pell in the late 1980s took an active interest into Geller's claims of remote viewing
Remote viewing
Remote viewing is the practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen target using paranormal means, in particular, extra-sensory perception or "sensing with mind"...
. On Geller's personal website he states that he was called by Pell and asked to describe a drawing he was looking at that moment. When Geller answered "a dagger with an ivory handle", Pell replied that he had gotten it correct and he was now convinced that Geller was genuine. Gueller reports that Pell was one of the most "forward-looking" and "open-minded people" he had ever met who was very interested in using psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
powers for peaceful means.
In an 2009 interview with James Randi
James Randi
James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
, he discusses his experience with Senator Pell who asked him to try and duplicate one of Geller's remote viewing feats. The Senator upon seeing that Randi's drawing matched his own drawing yelled, "I know a trick when I see one and that was not a trick...you have the power!"
Family and later years
Claiborne de Borda Pell was the son of former Congressman Herbert Claiborne Pell, Jr.. He was the great-great-grandson of former Congressman John Francis Hamtramck ClaiborneJohn Francis Hamtramck Claiborne
John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne was a Member of the U. S. House of Representatives from Mississippi.-Biography:...
, great-great-grandnephew of former Senator and Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
George Mifflin Dallas
George M. Dallas
George Mifflin Dallas was a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and the 11th Vice President of the United States , serving under James K. Polk.-Family and early life:...
and great-great-great-grandnephew of former Senator and Congressman William Charles Cole Claiborne and of former Congressman Nathaniel Herbert Claiborne. He was also a direct descendant of mathematician John Pell
John Pell
-Early life:He was born at Southwick in Sussex. He was educated at Steyning Grammar School, and entered Trinity College, Cambridge, at the age of thirteen. During his university career he became an accomplished linguist, and even before he took his B.A. degree corresponded with Henry Briggs and...
. Pell was one of the heirs to what started out as the Lorillard tobacco fortune, although the family has been out of the Lorillard firm for generations.
Pell married the former Nuala O'Donnell, great-granddaughter of George Huntington Hartford
George Huntington Hartford
George Huntington Hartford founded The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company in 1859 with George Gilman in Elmira, New York.He was born in Augusta, Maine...
, and, as such, one of the heirs to the A&P fortune. They had four children: Herbert Claiborne Pell III ("Bertie"), Christopher Thomas Hartford Pell ("Toby"), N. Dallas, and Julia Lorillard Wampage Pell.
Although from a wealthy background, Pell was renowned in Rhode Island for his lack of pretension and his frugality.
At his funeral, one grandson recalled that his grandfather "jogged in actual business suits that had been reluctantly retired" and "drove a Chrysler LeBaron
Chrysler LeBaron
The Chrysler LeBaron was originally a classic luxury car of 1930s manufactured by Chrysler which competed with other luxury cars of the era such as Lincoln and Packard....
convertible, which was outfitted with tattered red upholstery, a roof held together with duct tape...when it finally fell apart, he replaced it with a Dodge Spirit
Dodge Spirit
The Dodge Spirit is a mid-size 5- or 6-passenger sedan that was introduced in January 1989 as a replacement for the similarly sized Dodge 600. The Spirit was Dodge's version of the Chrysler AA platform, a stretched variation of the Chrysler K platform...
, which he had purchased used from Thrifty Rental Cars
Dollar-Thrifty Automotive Group
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group is a holding company for Thrifty Car Rental and Dollar Rent A Car, formed in 1990 by Chrysler and spun off in 1997....
."
His grandson continued, "When I was about twelve, my father owned an eight foot orange Zodiac, with flaky wooden floorboards and a six horsepower engine. My father would let me take it out on my own... On several occasions my grandfather would volunteer to join me. He would arrive at the dock, sit down on the wooden floorboards, wearing, of course, a full suit. Together we'd knife thru the moored boats and wave at passing boaters. Inevitably someone would recognize him, usually it would be a guy standing about ten feet above us in a sixty-foot SeaRay or a large sailboat, pointing and remarking, "Hey, it's Senator Pell down there. How you doing, Senator?" Grandpa would smile, wave back, happy as a clam in the smallest boat in the harbor, dressed as a gentleman, spending time with his family."
In his later years, Pell suffered from Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
. Pell died on January 1, 2009. He was 90 years old.
External links
- Pell Center at Salve Regina UniversitySalve Regina UniversitySalve Regina University is a university in Newport, Rhode Island. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy, the university is a Catholic, co-educational, private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of Rhode Island in 1934. In 1947 the university acquired Ochre Court and welcomed its first class...
- AP Obituary in The Providence JournalThe Providence JournalThe Providence Journal, nicknamed the ProJo, is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper, first published in 1829 and the oldest continuously-published daily newspaper in the United States, was purchased...