William Dennison McCrackan (1864 – June 12, 1923) was an American journalist and author of books on history and travel. In 1900, he converted to
Christian Science
Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...
and became a Christian Science practitioner, teacher and lecturer.
Life
McCrackan was born in Munich, Germany. His great-grandfather was Scottish and immigrated to New Haven, Connecticut around the time of the French and Indian War.
["A Lecture On Christian Science"](_blank)
''The Cambridge Chronicle'' (March 18, 1905), p. 10. Retrieved June 22, 2013 He graduated from
St. Paul's School in
Concord, New Hampshire
Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua.
The village of ...
["The Readers of The Mother Church"](_blank)
''Christian Science Journal'' (July 1905). Retrieved June 22, 2013 and Trinity College in
Hartford in 1885, afterward traveling to Europe to continue his education at the
Heidelberg University in Germany.
[ Peel, Robert, ''Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Authority'' (1977), p. 193] He lived in Europe for several years before returning to the United States.
He lectured, particularly in New York, and became known for his books on history and travel.
Politically progressive, he was well known in literary circles, was a member of the Authors' Club in
New York City and was friends with
Hamlin Garland,
Henry George and
Lord Bryce.
McCrackan was an opponent of the slogan "
a land without a people for a people without a land". He said, "We used to read in our papers the slogan of Zionism, 'to give back a people to a Land without a People,' while the truth was that Palestine was already well-peopled with a population which was rapidly increasing from natural causes."
McCrackan converted to Christian Science in 1900
[Gottschalk, Stephen. ''Rolling Away The Stone'' (2006) Indiana University Press. pp. 56-57.] and became active with the church organization, first serving as Committee on Publication for the state of New York for three years.
In that function, he wrote two articles for the ''
North American Review'' addressing articles they had recently published by
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
, which had ridiculed Christian Science. He sent his articles to Twain, which Twain replied he had read "with admiration and with profit". McCrackan later called on Twain, and though they remained in disagreement regarding religion, they developed a cordial relationship. The last time McCrackan met with Twain,
his wife was very ill and Twain, who wrote numerous articles critical of the religion, told McCrackan that he would gladly ask McCrackan to pray for her, except that his wife would rather die.
McCrackan, a
Christian Science practitioner and teacher, began lecturing on the religion in 1904 and was elected
First Reader A publisher's reader or first reader is a person paid by a publisher or book sales club to read manuscripts from the slush pile
In publishing, a slush pile is a set of unsolicited query letters or manuscripts that have either been directly sent ...
of
The Mother Church
The First Church of Christ, Scientist is the administrative headquarters and mother church of the Church of Christ, Scientist, also known as the Christian Science church. Christian Science was founded in the 19th century in Lynn, Massachusetts ...
in 1905.
["A Historical Perspective"](_blank)
''Christian Science Sentinel'' (May 28, 2012). Retrieved June 22, 2013 He later became an associate editor of the ''
Christian Science Sentinel''.
In 1919, McCrackan had a major role in founding the ''
Jerusalem News'', the first English-language newspaper published in
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
, and was a major contributor to it - though not physically present in Jerusalem.
He died in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
on June 12, 1923.
Published work (partial list)
Articles
"Our Foreign Policy"''
Arena magazine'', (1893), pp 145-150
"Andreas Hofer, The Hero of the Tirol"''New England Magazine'', (March 1896 - August 1896), pp 548–559
"Emancipation"''Christian Science Journal'', (1919)
Books
*
The Rise of the Swiss Republic' (1892)
*
Little idyls of the big world' (1895)
*
The Huntington letters' (1897)
*
The Fair Land Tyrol' (1905)
*
Christian Science: Its discovery and development A.D. 1866' (1915)
*
The Spell of the Italian Lakes' (1918)
*
The New Palestine' (1922)
*
An American abroad and at home, recollections of W. D. McCrackan' (1924)
*
Mary Baker Eddy and Her Book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures' (1925)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCrackan, William D.
1864 births
1923 deaths
American Christian Scientists
American male journalists
American non-fiction writers
Converts to Christian Science
Christian Science writers