Herbert Claiborne PELL, Jr., Congress, NY (1884-1961)

PELL, Herbert Claiborne, Jr., (great-grandson of John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne, great-great-grandnephew of William Charles Cole Claiborne and Nathaniel Herbert Claiborne, and father of Claiborne de Borda Pell), a Representative from New York; born in New York City, February 16, 1884; attended Pomfret (Conn.) School, Harvard University, and Columbia University, New York City; member of the Progressive committee of Orange County, N.Y., 1912-1914; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1919-March 3, 1921); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1920 to the Sixty-seventh Congress; chairman of the Democratic State committee 1921-1926; delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1924; occasional lecturer at Columbia University, Harvard University, and other institutions of learning; vice chairman of the Democratic National Campaign Committee in 1936; appointed from Rhode Island as Minister to Portugal from May 27, 1937, until February 11, 1941, when he was appointed Minister to Hungary, serving in that capacity until his resignation on November 30, 1942, after he had received the Hungarian declaration of war; United States representative on the United Nations War Crimes Commission from August 1943 to January 1945; died in Munich, Germany, July 17, 1961; remains cremated and the ashes committed off Beavertail, Jamestown, R.I.

Bibliography

Baker, Leonard. Brahmin in Revolt; A Biography of Herbert C. Pell. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1972; Blayney, Michael S. “Diplomat and Humanist: The Diplomatic Career of Herbert Claiborne Pell.” Ph.D. dissertation, Washington State University, 1973.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present