Pell finished his Coast Guard service in World War II and went into the Foreign Service, serving in, among other places, Czechoslovakia. But he was already thinking about elective politics. In this Jan. 30, 1947, typewritten letter to Pell, father Herbert outlines some possibilities -- including seeking nomination as R.I. state senator from Newport. Pell was just 28 years old. He would eventually win elective office, in his first try -- to the United States Senate, in 1960.
Herbert dictated most of his letters to a secretary, who typed them -- but occasionally hand-wrote one, such as this New Year's greetings in 1947. Herbert's handwriting was legible, if difficult to read.
Claiborne's handwriting was a bit better, as seen here in a note used to cable his father, who was in London, that his engagement to Nuala O'Donnell would be announced in November 1944.
And here is the radiogram that Herbert sent Claiborne after the son wrote the father of his intention to marry.
These documents are among the thousands I have been reading at the Pell archives at URI. Spent a good part of the day there again on Wednesday.
Images courtesy of Special Collections, University of Rhode Island Library.
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