Erle Elsworth Clippinger (September 27, 1875 – January 7, 1939) was an American writer, professor of English, and a scholar of children's literature in Indiana.
He was one of the founding faculty members at Ball State University, where he chaired the English department for many years.
At Ball State, Clippinger was "an effective, challenging instructor" but had difficult relations with some other faculty members.
[2][4] Clippinger's published works include Children's Literature: A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes (with Charles Madison Curry, Rand McNally 1921), Illustrated Lessons in Composition and Rhetoric (Silver, Burdett, and Co. 1912),[5] and the two volume text Written and Spoken English: A Course in Composition and Rhetoric (Silver, Burdett, and Co.
[6] Written and Spoken English was widely used as a high school textbook, and Children's Literature enjoyed a second edition in 1932.