GRACE MOORE - AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED 04/25/1944 CO-SIGNED BY: LEO CHERNE, VALENTIN PARERA, EDWARD HYERS CLAYTON, OLIVE E. CLAPPER, WILLIE SNOW ETHRIDGE - HFSID 29585

GRACE MOORE, VALENTIN PARERA, LEO CHERNE, EDWARD HYERS CLAYTON, OLIVE CLAPPER and WILLIE SNOW ETHRIDGE
These writers and actors signed this sheet of paper to Rose Oller Harbaugh for welcoming them to the bookstore she worked at
Autograph Note signed: "In remembrance/Grace Moore de Parera/April 25-1944", "Valentin Parera" and on verso: "June 22 1944/May heaven below belong to the friends of 'Heaven Below'. E. H. Clayton",  "To one of the few nice Republicans I've ever known socially - Willie Snow Etteridge - June 24th 1944", "With the real hope that most of my expectations never come true to distress you. June 29th 1944 Leo Cherne" and "To Rose Oller Harbaugh - I have heard over and over again enthusiastic reports of you as a person and now I can see for myself how true these rumors are! I wish Ray might have known you. Olive E. Clapper", 1p (front and verso), 7½x10¼ album leaf. Grace Moore (1898-1947) was a soprano opera singer who debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1928. Dubbed "The Tennessee Nightingale", she introduced opera to the mainstream population in a string of successful musical films featuring operatic singing, including One Night of Love (1934) and The King Steps Out (1936). She was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in One Night of Love, which costarred Tullio Carminati.Moore was killed in a plane crash over Copenhagen during a European concert tour in 1947. In 1931, Moore married Spanish actor Valentin Parera (1895-1986), a veteran of silent and early talking Spanish-language films. The best known of these is The Cellar (1930). He was married to Grace Moore until her death. Leo Cherne (1912-1999) was a successful lawyer and businessman who devoted much of his life to humanitarian causes, serving for forty years (1951-1991) as Chairman of the International Rescue Committee, bringing the organization back from near insolvency and making it one of the world's most respected relief organizations. Cherne advised every president from Franklin Roosevelt to George H. W. Bush and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Reagan. At his funeral, Elie Wiesel said that Cherne "gave homes to the homeless and hope to the hopeless." Cherne frequently issued long-term predictions, the basis no doubt for his comment above. Edward Hyers Clayton (1886-1946) was a Biblical scholar, often published in the Christian magazine "Grace and Truth". He published a book in 1944 titled Heaven Below, which was based on his experiences in China as a missionary. Olive E. Clapper (1896-1968) was the wife of Raymond Clapper, former manager of the Washington, D.C. office of the United Press who died in a plane crash shortly before this note was signed. Raymond Clapper was very critical of corruption and nepotism in Washington. Olive continued his work by publishing two collections of his papers, Watching the World (1944) and Washington Tapestry (1946). Olive was an accomplished writer herself, working as a journalist and radio talk show host. In 1961, she published her own book titled One Lucky Woman (1961). It discusses the challenges of widowhood and escaping form the sorrow and despair after a loved one's death. Willie Snow Ethridge (1897-1982) helped Nila Magidoff, Russian-born wife of Russian-American journalist Robert Magidoff, write her biography and accompanied her on speaking engagements during and after World War II. Ethridge wrote eight books during her decades-long career as a journalist, editor, author, and social reformer. These books include Strange Fires: The True Story of John Wesley's Love Affair in Georgia (1971) and You Can't Hardly Get There From Here (1965). These notes were written to Rose Oller Harbaugh, the longtime manager and buyer for the book department of the Marshall Field department store in Chicago. She published a book titled Favorite Torte and Cake Recipes in 1951. Binder holes at left edge, which is slightly frayed and soiled. Otherwise, fine condition.