Jack V. Sewell

Jack V. Sewell
Personal details
Born	11 June 1923 St. Joseph, Missouri
Died	4 November 2010 Dubuque, Iowa
Nativity	United States
Religion	Protestant
Awards	Bronze Star; Good Conduct
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	17169212
Rank	Technical Sergeant
Rank at Ritchie	Private First Class
Camp Ritchie	Class 17 (11 March – 8 May 1944)
Section	6F

Awards and honors

Bronze Star	Good Conduct

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Jack V. Sewell (11 June 1923 – 4 November 2010) was a Missouri-born Ritchie Boy (Class 17) photo interpreter in the Pacific who later curated Asian art at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Biography

Jack V. Sewell was born on 11 June 1923 in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Arthur B. and Annie L. Sewell. Art editor of his high-school magazine, he entered the Army in 1943, studied Spanish in the ASTP at City College of New York, and in February 1944 began photo-intelligence training at Camp Ritchie (Class 17).

Sewell served with the 131st Photo Interpreter Team in the Southwest Pacific—New Guinea, Australia, and the Philippines—supporting Sixth Army and the Allied Geographical Section, including work for the Luzon invasion. He finished the war as a technical sergeant in Kyoto and received the Bronze Star and Good Conduct Medal.

Afterward he earned degrees from the University of Chicago and a doctorate from Harvard in Oriental art. Joining the Art Institute of Chicago in 1951, he retired thirty-seven years later as curator of the Oriental and Classical department. He died on 4 November 2010 in Dubuque, Iowa.

Research notes

• ASTP CCNY
• PI 131

Gallery

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  Citation for Jack Sewell's Bronze Star (Pritzker / RB Archive)
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  Honorable discharge (positive print) (Pritzker / RB Archive)

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	87
Class_ASN	17169212
Class_Name	SEWELL, Jack V.
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• 11 June 1923 — Born in St. Joseph, Missouri.
• 1943 — Enlisted; ASTP Spanish at CCNY.
• February 1944 — Camp Ritchie photo-intelligence training (Class 17).
• July 1944–January 1946 — 131st Photo Interpreter Team, SWPA; Technical Sergeant, Kyoto.
• Awards — Bronze Star; Good Conduct Medal.
• 1951–c. 1988 — Art Institute of Chicago; curator, Oriental and Classical art.
• 4 November 2010 — Died in Dubuque, Iowa.

Sources

• Honorable discharge (positive print) (Pritzker / RB Archive)
• Citation for Jack Sewell's Bronze Star (Pritzker / RB Archive)
• RB Archive: Sewell Finding Aid (Feb. 2018); Bronze Star citation photo
• Pritzker Military Museum & Library — Jack V. Sewell Collection
• Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
• Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2023-01-19 (1 post)