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BORN
1922
DIED
2016
George Pettingill Obituary
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Memories and Condolences
for George Pettingill
2 Entries
Sue Underwood
March 22, 2020
I did not have the honor of meeting Mr. Pettingill but found a clipped article he wrote, at age 14 yrs old, of an interview with the Boston sculptor Cyrus Dallin. It was found among belongings of a deceased relative. I do not know why the clipping was saved but I thought it charming for a youth to have published such and interview. If the family would like this copy I would be happy to send it to them. [email protected]
George B. Pettengill
January 8, 2017
George Blackall Pettengill (Dec. 21, 1922-Apr. 1, 2016) dedicated his varied career to civil rights and social justice. Born in Newton MA and raised in Waban MA, he graduated as an African Studies major from Yale University in 1947. Trained as a Piper Cub pilot and navigator in the US Air Force, he was discharged just before the war ended. His first job out of college was as a newspaper reporter in Zanesville, OH, where he successfully campaigned to open the local pool, restaurants, hotels, and business school to African Americans. He then did media work for the US government in Liberia, Washington DC, and Ethiopia, where an educational printing press that he oversaw was visited by Emperor Haile Selassie. Upon returning to the US in the late 1950s, he began to work with foreign students as Program Director of International House at Columbia University in NY, and then as Executive Director of the International Student Association in Cambridge MA; in these positions he hosted such figures as Eleanor Roosevelt, Maurice Chevalier, Endicott Peabody, and Arthur Fiedler. In the 1960s, he became involved with the Civil Rights Movement as Executive Director of the Human Rights Commission of Suffolk County, NY, where he investigated local cases of racial discrimination in jobs and housing. After completing a law degree at Hofstra University, he became an ombudsperson for nursing homes on Long Island, where he advocated for the rights of residents to receive services. George Pettengill loved the jazz standards of the 30s and 40s, photography, gardening, sailing, and making friends all over the world. He is survived by his wife, Roberta Sims Marks, his children from his first marriage Nancy, Vani, and Richard plus numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren.
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