Donald Pringle fonds

MG H141

Archives & Special Collections
Harriet Irving Library
University of New Brunswick

October 2002


Donald Pringle fonds [textual records]. -- 1958. -- 1cm.

Biographical sketch: James Donald Pringle was born in Fredericton in1914 to James Pringle (c 1866-1944) and his second wife, Mary Edna Hanning (1885-1957). He combined academic studies with sports at Fredericton High School and continued on to the University of New Brunswick where he became sports editor of the Brunswickan and played for the school's hockey team. He received a B.A. degree from UNB in 1935. Throughout his student years, Donald Pringle had taken voice training and had sung baritone in his church choir. He continued his musical studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and also in the various cities in which he lived during his career. After graduating from university he began his broadcasting career at CFNB in Fredericton, staying two years before moving to an independent station in Ottawa. He later joined the CBC affiliate there and worked in other network stations in Halifax and Toronto as an announcer, reporter and special events broadcaster. In 1946, Pringle was chosen by the United Nations Security Council as Canadian commentator on the international radio service. Several years later he was appointed to the permanent staff of the UN working for the newly inaugurated UN Radio. Later he held the post of Supervisor, North American Broadcasts, and Chief, English Language service, UN Radio. In the early 1950s, he became a TV commentator for televised features and concerts coming from the UN. In 1958 Pringle was sent as UN liaison officer to Beirut following the Palestinian refugee uprising. He had previously been assigned to tour the camps of Europe in 1953 which housed displaced persons after the Second World War. After retirement in 1976, Pringle worked as a free-lance broadcaster and was heard frequently reporting from the UN on Radio Erin (Ireland). Donald Pringle died about 19th September 1979 in New York and is buried in Fredericton.

Source: Fredericton Daily Gleaner. Obituary, 22 September 1979.

Scope and content: The fonds consists of a handwritten notebook kept by Donald Pringle while in Beirut, Jordan, and Gaza in 1958 during his assignment as an Information Officer with the UN Observation team reporting on the Palestinian refugee camps. It includes notes for interviews, background information, and his own observations of conditions in the area and the efforts of the UN Relief and Works Agency operating there.

Notes:

Title based on the creator of the fonds.

Immediate source of acquisition: Material received from Mr. Fred Phillips, Fredericton, 1987.

Restrictions: open access.

Related groups of records:
MG H 185     Minnie Mullan and James Pringle fonds
MG H 181     James Scott Mullan fonds


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Last update: 2002/10/17