Pell was recognized as an internationalist on foreign policy and a progressive despite coming from the wealthy and conservative class, which tended to be isolationist.

He was the leading American seeking to build awareness of the plight of European Jews in the 1930s and 1940s and prevent the Holocaust, and was able to aid in holding the perpetrators responsible as the principal U.S. sponsor of and U.S. representative of the War Crimes Commission.

His remains were cremated and scattered in the Atlantic Ocean at Beavertail in Jamestown, Rhode Island.

He was also a direct descendant of Wampage I, a Siwanoy chieftain, as reflected in a Congressional Record entry relating to his son Claiborne Pell.

[3] Pell's political career began as a member of the Progressive committee of Orange County, New York (1912 to 1914).

He was serving in Budapest on December 13, 1941, when he received the Hungarian declaration of war against the United States.

[6] Before their divorce in March 1927, they were the parents of:[7] In June 1927, Matilda married Hugo W. Koehler (1886–1941), a commander in the United States Navy who served as a naval and State Department special agent in Russia during its civil war in 1920.

[15] His funeral was held at Trinity Church in Newport, Rhode Island where there is a memorial plaque in his honor.

1981), a candidate for Governor of Rhode Island, who married two-time Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan (b.