Olive Ewing Clapper and Raymond Clapper papers, 1894-1988

Olive Ewing Clapper (1896-1968) was an American author and journalist for the Mutual network. Olive Ewing was born in Kansas City in February of 1896. She married journalist Raymond Lewis Clapper in 1913 and took up his work as a journalist and commentator after his death in a plane crash in 1944. She used Raymond’s detailed notes on events and people to publish several books. One book, published after her husband’s death in 1944, was an edited compilation of his work titled Watching the World. She also served as the Washington, D.C. Director of C.A.R.E. (Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere) and traveled extensively to promote the organizations activities and efforts. Olive Ewing Clapper died in November of 1968 at 72.

Raymond Lewis Clapper (1892-1944) was an American journalist, radio newscaster, and war correspondent. Raymond was born in La Cygne, Kansas in 1892, before moving with his family to Kansas City. Clapper graduated from the University of Kansas. During his time there Raymond worked for the University Daily Kansan campus newspaper and in 1915, he was elected as the paper’s editor-in-chief. While at the University, Raymond met and married his wife, Olive Ewing. In 1916, he took a job as a reporter for The Kansas City Star and then later that year he began working for the United Press wire service in Chicago. In 1917, he was promoted to manager of UP’s Northwest Bureau. In 1923, he was transferred to Washington, D.C. to report on politics and in 1928, Raymond was promoted to manager of UP’s Washington operation. In 1933, Clapper’s career was improved with his expose, “Racketeering in Washington” that was nationally recognized. Later that year, he was hired by The Washington Post, and in 1934 he began a column titled “Between You and Me” distributed daily to 176 Scripps-Howard Newspapers. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Clapper also got involved in radio. Raymond was a newscaster for the Mutual Broadcasting System. In 1938, Clapper read and interpreted election results on NBC, and in 1942 he replaced Raymond Gram Swing on Mutal’s evening newscast. During World War II, Raymond was a political columnist and war correspondent. Raymond Clapper died on February 1, 1944, covering the invasion of the Marshall Islands when his plane collided with another and both planes crashed with no survivors. He was 51 years old.