Ralph Warren Cram (June 19, 1869 – May 8, 1952) was a newspaper editor and aviator.

Biography

He was born in Zanesville, Ohio, in 1869, son of Charles W. Cram, a physician, and Clarissa Deming. Cram was a cousin of American architect

Ralph Adams Cram Ralph Adams Cram (December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic Revival style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partner ...

. . He married Mary Belle (Mabel) Laventure in 1892, and they had six children including parasitologist

Eloise Blaine Cram Eloise Blaine Cram (1896 – February 9, 1957) was an American zoologist and parasitologist From 1920 through 1936 Eloise Blaine Cram was a zoologist for the USDA's Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), where she gained prominence as a world authority ...

(1896–1957) and aviation engineer Ralph LaVenture Cram (1906–1939) who was killed during a test flight of the first Boeing 307 Stratoliner. He died in 1952. He was buried at Oakdale Memorial Gardens, among other historical figures prominent on Davenport's history.

Newspaperman

In 1883 Cram began his newspaper career as a printer's devil with the '' Davenport Democrat'' of

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

. After being a reporter, city editor, and managing editor, in 1930 he became editor and publisher, a position he held until his retirement in 1940. Cram was an acknowledged political analyst, and his editorials reflected life not only in Davenport, but in the state and nation as a whole.

Aviation

An authority on aviation and an avid pilot, in 1919 following World War I Cram began flying, and edited the History of War Activities of Scott County Iowa in 1921. On 11 November 1928 (Armistice Day), Cram Field Davenport Municipal Airport was dedicated in his honor, and in 1934 he was appointed state director in charge of airport improvement in Iowa. He was a charter member of the National Aeronautic Association in 1922, and was also a sponsor of the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association. Cram was a frequent contributor to aeronautic magazines and the author of "Soloing at Sixty-two." He wrote the story of his life in seventy-eight chapters, published serially in the ''Democrat and Leader'', 1937–1939.

References

External links

Ralph W. Cram Papers
at

Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics rela ...

Ralph W. Cram
in: A Narrative History of The People of Iowa with SPECIAL TREATMENT OF THEIR CHIEF ENTERPRISES IN EDUCATION, RELIGION, VALOR, INDUSTRY, BUSINESS, ETC., by EDGAR RUBEY HARLAN, LL. B., A. M. Curator of the Historical, Memorial and Art Department of Iowa Volume IV THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Inc. Chicago and New York. 1931 * Ralph W. Cram, 1921
History of War Activities of Scott County Iowa

Death of Dr. C.W. Cram
in: The Medical Brief: A Monthly Journal of Scientific Medicine and Surgery, Volume 27 - January 1, 1899: p. 1396.
Cram, Eloise Blaine
in: ''Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science'', edited by

Marilyn Ogilvie Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie (born 1936) is an American historian of science known especially for her work on the history of women in science. She taught at Oklahoma Baptist University before becoming curator of the History of Science Collections and ...

and

Joy Harvey Joy Dorothy Harvey (born 1934) is an American historian of science. Life Harvey gained a PhD from Harvard University in 1983. She has been an associate editor of the Darwin Correspondence Project, and written a biography of Clémence Royer, Dar ...

, p. 608. Routledge, 2000.
Alder, WA Dutch Airliner Crashes, Mar 1939
Sandusky Register Ohio 1939-03-19. * Wilma, David, 2000
Boeing Stratoliner crash kills 10 on March 18, 1939.

* Gantt, Marlene, 2009

Quad City Times. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cram, Ralph W. 1869 births 1952 deaths People from Zanesville, Ohio Writers from Davenport, Iowa American newspaper editors American aviation writers American aviation pioneers Journalists from Ohio