The Claiborne Pell Bridge

The Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge opened in June 28 1969, connecting the City of Newport on Aquidneck Island with the Town of Jamestown on Conanicut Island. Before construction the primary means of accessing Jamestown from the Newport was via ferry via crossing the Narragansett Bay. The bridge, with a main span of 1,601 feet and an overall length of 11,247 feet, is the longest suspension bridge in the New England area. Construction began in 1966 and took three years to complete with a cost of $54 million.

Originally named the Newport Bridge, it was renamed after Claiborne Pell, a U.S. Senator, from Rhode Island. Born in 1918 in New York City, Senator Pell attended school in Middletown, Rhode Island and would eventually graduate with a Bachelors of Arts from Princeton University in 1940. Pell would join the Coast Guard just months before the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 as a Seaman Second Class, ultimately becoming a Captain before retiring from the Coast Guard Reserves in 1978 serving in the Atlantic Theater.

Pell married Nuala O’Donnell in December of 1944 and they would have four children together.

His political career began in 1960 when he won the seat of then retiring Senator Theodore Green, beating out two former Rhode Island governors and the Rhode Island Republican Party Chair. He would continue to serve the state of Rhode Island in the Senate, winning reelection 5 times. He would also become the Chair of the Senate Rules Committee and Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.Pell’s congressional history includes voting to support numerous groundbreaking pieces of legislation to include the: 24 Amendment to the US Constitution, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

A staunch supporter of education and research, Pell was responsible for the drafting and creation of the Basic Educational Opportunities Grants in 1973. Today, we know these grants as the Pell Grants which helps provide financial aid to millions of college students looking to further their education after high school. The grants were renamed after Claiborne in 1980.

Senator Claiborne retired from the U.S Senate in 1997 after 36 years of service making him the longest-serving U.S Senator from the state of Rhode Island. Post retirement, Claiborne Pell lived in Newport until his death on January 1, 2009.