Kracke, E. A. (Edward A.)

Edward A. Kracke Jr. was a professor of East Asian studies at the University of Chicago, and an expert on early Chinese political institutions during the Sung dynasty (906-1279 A. D.). After joining the Department of Oriental Languages and Literatures at the University of Chicago, he was instrumental in developing its program in Far Eastern studies; when he retired in 1973, they had been brought together as the Department of Far Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Edward A. Kracke Jr. was born in New York City on 22 January, 1908. He received his A. B. cum laude in Fine Arts in 1932 and a Master's degree in History in 1935, both from Harvard University. That same year, he married Joan Hocking, the daughter of the Harvard idealist philosopher William E. Hocking. They had two children together: Waud Hocking and Ernesta Henrietta. Also in 1935, Kracke travelled to Paris to study early Chinese and Central Asian History with Étienne Balazs, a leading sinologist, at l'École nationale des langues orientales vivantes, now known as the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales. Afterward, he went to Peiping (Beijing) to study Chinese language and history, receiving assistance and advice from the reputed Chinese historian William Hung. He then returned to Harvard, where he worked with the prominent scholars Edwin O. Reischauer, John K. Fairbank and Serge Elisséeff and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Japanese language.

In 1942, Kracke joined the staff of the Far East Division, Research and Analysis Branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in Washington, D.C. He headed the Japanese Political Section, producing reports on political conditions in Japan, Formosa (Taiwan), and Korea, January 1944 to October 1945. When OSS was abolished in 1946, Kracke was reassigned to the Department of State's Division of Far East Intelligence. However, he stayed in the position for less than half a year, resigning in order to devote himself to turning his dissertation into a book. In 1946, he came to the University of Chicago, initially as a visiting professor. He would remain there for the next 27 years, becoming a full Professor in 1970.

Kracke did not publish prolifically, producing only one monograph, Civil Service in Early Sung China, which was based on his dissertation and was published in 1953. Most of his publishing was in the form of articles in academic journals. His work examined the organization and functioning of the Chinese government in the first century of the Sung dynasty, and what Kracke called "controlled sponsorship" in its system of promotion.

Kracke taught a number of courses in Chinese history and culture at the University of Chicago. He was intensely involved in the development of Far Eastern studies at the University of Chicago and in North America, in general. At the University of Chicago, he served as Chairman of the Committee on Far Eastern Civilizations 1957-1963 and Chairman of the Committee on Far Eastern Studies 1970-1971. He also served as the Director of the Center for Far Eastern Studies 1961-1964 and again in 1971-1972. Outside of the university, Kracke was actively involved in many scholarly and Asian studies organizations, namely the American Council of Learned Societies (1933-1972), the American Oriental Society (1962-1974, serving as president 1972-1973), the Harvard Visiting Committee on Far Eastern Studies (1960-1965) and the Chicago Literary Club (1956-1976).

Kracke retired from the University of Chicago in 1973, becoming Professor Emeritus. After a long illness, he died 8 July 1976 in Boston, Massachusetts.

From the guide to the Kracke, Edward A., Jr. Papers, 1927-1976, (Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.)