Charlotte Ebener was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on September 29, 1918 to Joseph
and Catherine Ebener. She attended North Division High School, and then studied
journalism at the Wisconsin State College-Milwaukee graduating with a degree from
the University of Wisconsin in 1942. Her father, Joseph, died later that year. In
1945 her mother married Edwin Knappe, a local Milwaukee Socialist leader and they
remained married until his death in 1971. Charlotte often returned to Wisconsin to
visit her mother; Catherine Ebener Knappe died in 1973.
After college she joined the American Red Cross during World War II and went
overseas. In September 1944, she became a correspondent for the International News
Service. Charlotte then joined the Women’s National News agency and eventually the
Chicago Daily News. She traveled extensively throughout the world as a journalist
and foreign correspondent writing on world affairs. In April of 1946, she was taken
into “protective custody” along with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist George Weller
and five other Americans by Russians in Changchun, Manchuria. They were released
after three weeks. On January 23, 1948, Charlotte and George Weller were married in
Milwaukee at the Mount Mary College (now University) Chapel.
By 1953 Charlotte and George were working for the Chicago Daily News Foreign Service
stationed and living in Rome, Italy. In 1955 she wrote No
Facilities for Women, a book about her life as a foreign correspondent.
She died October 8, 1990 near Rome, Italy.
