Elsie Carper, 87; Pioneering Post Reporter, Editor

The late Henry Mitchell, a Style columnist, wrote at the time of Ms. Carper's retirement that she was "the only person I ever met who 'knew' what Style was." He added: "She was a Puritan and I am not going to define that further except to point out that she did not comprehend laziness in sub-editors and she loathed corner-cutting in reporters."

She ran the section with a firm hand. When a reporter refused to tell her the source of a certain item, she said, "What do you mean you won't tell me? You don't trust me, I don't trust you, the story won't run."

The cause of fair treatment for women was never far from Ms. Carper's mind. She was a leader in efforts to end the men-only policies of the Gridiron Club and the National Press Club. The NPC was a particular target because it was (and is) the site of many speeches and news conferences of visiting dignitaries. Until women were admitted as members in 1971, they had to cover these events from a balcony that did not even have telephones.

But back in 1963, when Ms. Carper became president of the Women's National Press Club, President John F. Kennedy praised her efforts to get the all-male club to change its practices. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, the speaker at the luncheon at which she took office, spoke in a similar vein. He also remarked that her "reputation as a journalist is well known to all. She covers both the United States Congress and pollution of the Potomac and never gets them confused."

In 1969, Ms. Carper took Graham to task for an interview in which she said any man could do a better job running the paper than she could. If she really meant that, Ms. Carper said, she would resign.

"Needless to say, I changed my views," Graham said in telling the story at Ms. Carper's retirement. "Elsie helped me understand that setting your sights too low erodes your ability to perform."

In 1972, Ms. Carper, by then covering the environment for the national staff, was asked by a number of female employees to lead them in filing suit on the grounds that The Post was discriminating against them in hiring, assignments and promotions. She suggested that they instead write a petition and send it to Graham and Benjamin C. Bradlee, the executive editor.

The result was that Bradlee made her assistant managing editor in charge of news personnel and with a responsibility to address the issues raised in the petition she had written. She held that job until 1979 and was responsible for hiring a number of men and women, black and white, who went on to notable careers at the paper.

From 1979 until her retirement in 1989, Ms. Carper was assistant managing editor for news administration. She then continued as a consultant to the paper until 1992.

Elsie Mae Carper was born in Washington on Nov. 15, 1919. She graduated from Eastern High School. At GWU, which she attended on a scholarship, she was a member of the debating team. She was Woman Graduate of the Year in 1941.

In 1950, she received the Education Writers Association Award for a series of articles on teaching reading and other basic subjects, and in 1951, she was cited by Delta Kappa Gamma, a national honor society for female educators, for "outstanding reporting on education" and "distinguished service to education." In 1961, she was honored by the Washington Newspaper Guild for a series of articles on school desegregation problems in Prince Edward County, Va.

In 1985, Ms. Carper received the Eugene Meyer Award, which is named after Graham's father and is the highest honor conferred on employees of The Post. In 1990, she was given the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award of George Washington University. In 1993, she was inducted into the Society of Professional Journalists Hall of Fame.

In private life, Ms. Carper's interests included music, theater and travel. She was a member of the National Press Club, the Cosmos Club and the Society of Mayflower Descendants. For the past six years, one of her nieces, Amy Plummer, cared for her in her home by the Chesapeake Bay.

Survivors include her sister, Barbara Plummer of Chevy Chase.

Staff writer Patricia Sullivan contributed to this report. J.Y. Smith, former obituary editor of The Post, wrote this article before his death Jan. 17, 2006.