Scope and Content Note
The papers of Edward S. Crocker II (1895-1968) and Lispenard Seabury Crocker (1902-1984) span the years 1892-2003, with the bulk of the material dating from 1923 to 1941. The collection documents the career and family life of a United States foreign service officer and his wife at multiple postings in Europe and Latin America, culminating with his work at the embassy in Tokyo 1934-1941. The papers are arranged into the following series: Digital Files, Family Correpondence, General Correspondence, Miscellany, Photographs, United States Embassy, Tokyo, Japan, 2022 Addition, and Oversize.
Two decades of family letters, home films, and photographs capture the private life of the Crockers while serving at postings in San Salvador, Warsaw, Rome, Budapest, Stockholm, and Tokyo. The papers document their marriage, the birth of two children while abroad and the death of one, the social life of the diplomatic corps, and the financial contributions of family to support the diplomatic life of the Crockers. After leaving Tokyo in 1942, Crocker had further postings in Lisbon, Warsaw, and served as ambassador to Iraq (1948-1952), but there is very little material in the collection dating after 1941. The papers focus on Edward and Lispenard, but other prominent family members include her parents, Katharine Emerson Hovey Seabury and William Marston Seabury, his mother, Marion Crocker, and their daughter, Lispenard ("Lisa") Crocker, who married the future ambassador and assistant secretary of state, Marshall Green, in 1942. The papers include a folder of correspondence, some photographs, and film footage of Marshall Green.
The Crockers were in Japan from 1934-1941/1942 where Edward served as first secretary at the American embassy. The papers include two volumes of 1941 memoranda of conversations of embassy officials and the ambassador with Japanese officials. Their time in Japan is documented throughout the papers and include letters with firsthand accounts of events during the attempted coup of February 1936, letters home discussing the invasion of China, photographs, and letters and clippings documenting social events within the diplomatic corps and at the Imperial Palace. Edward Crocker was the American official who accepted the declaration of war from the government of Japan on December 8, 1941. He, along with the other embassy staff, were then held captive inside the embassy compound for six months, an experience documented by Crocker in his 112-page diary. Edward Crocker's descriptions of these events along with the memoranda are in the United States Embassy, Tokyo, Japan series and the 2022 Addition, which includes his complete diary.
The collection’s series are listed and briefly described below. A fuller description of each series and a list of its contents can be accessed in the series descriptions within the container list.
The Digital Files consist of motion pictures, primarily ones made by the Crockers with a home camera, but also include several newsreels.
Family Correspondence is the largest series and is primarily composed of letters written by Edward and Lispenard to their parents and to each other while serving abroad at various embassies and legations.
General Correspondence contains both professional and non-family personal correspondence.
The Miscellany series draws together biographical material, printed matter, and writings.
The Photographs series has folders of loose photographs organized by place or person and original photograph albums.
The United States Embassy, Tokyo, Japan series holds documents relating to embassy events in the lead up to and directly following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.
The 2022 Addition contains the original carbon copy of the 1941-1942 Tokyo embassy diary of Edward S. Crocker and a file on author Sinclair Lewis.
The Oversize series includes photographs and photograph albums removed from the Photographs series and a photograph from the 2022 Addition.