Zwart, Elizabeth Clarkson, 1904-1983

Columnist for the Des Moines Register.

Elizabeth Clarkson Zwart was born to Joseph and Bertha Clarkson Zwart in 1904 in Des Moines. After graduating from high school, Clarkson Zwart attended a finishing school in New York and began a career in journalism. She married Donald Metcalf in 1928 but continued to use her maiden name professionally. They had one daughter, Elizabeth.

In 1931 Clarkson Zwart began writing "The front row," a column for the Des Moines tribune, popular for its humorous and insightful observations of the everyday lives of Iowans. She did this column for fifty years. From 1935 to 1949 she was also book editor for the Sunday Des Moines register and in the 1960s wrote a monthly column with cooking tips for Better homes and gardens. She retired in 1982 when the Tribune closed and suffered a stroke that same year.