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Title: J. Burke Knapp papers
Date (inclusive): 1888-1997
Collection Number: 92039
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
9 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box, 1 envelope
(3.9 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Writings, correspondence, memoranda, reports, transcripts of interviews, and memorabilia, relating to activities of the World
Bank in funding development programs in Latin American and other developing countries, and to miscellaneous aspects of foreign
economic policy of the United States government.
Creator:
Knapp, J. Burke (Joseph Burke), 1913-2009
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Box 9 may not be used without permission of the Archivist. The remainder of the collection is open for research; materials
must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection,
they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1992.
[Identification of item], J. Burke Knapp papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
| 1913 | Born in Portland, Oregon |
| 1933 | AB in Economics, Stanford University |
| 1935 | BA, Politics, Philosophy and Economics, Oxford University |
| 1939 | MA, Oxford University |
| 1936-1940 | Assistant to Managing Director, Brown Harriman & Co., Ltd. |
| 1940-1944 | Assistant Chief, International Section, Federal Reserve Board |
| 1944-1945 | Adviser on German Economic Affairs, U.S. Department of State and U.S. Military Government in Germany |
| 1945-1948 | Special Assistant to the Chairman, Federal Reserve Board |
| 1948-1949 | Director, Office of Financial and Development Policy, U.S. Department of State |
| 1949 | Assistant Director, Economic Department, World Bank |
| 1950 | Economic Advisor, U.S. Delegation to NATO Treaty Council, London, England |
| 1951-1952 | U.S. Co-Chairman, Joint Brazilian-United States Economic Development Commission |
| 1952-1955 | Director, Department of Operations for the Western Hemisphere, World Bank |
| 1956-1972 | Vice President, Operations (Chairman of the Loan Committee), World Bank |
| 1972-1978 | Senior Vice President, Operations (Chairman of the Loan Committee), World Bank |
| 1978-1981 | Consultant to World Bank on policy matters |
| 1982-1991 | Senior International Advisor, Morgan Grenfell & Co. |
| 2009 | Death |
Scope and Content of Collection
The J. Burke Knapp papers include writings, correspondence, memoranda, reports, transcripts of interviews, and memorabilia
related to activities of the World Bank in funding development programs in Latin American and other developing countries,
and to miscellaneous aspects of foreign economic policy of the United States government.
Knapp was an economist who was employed by the Federal Reserve, United States Department of State, and the World Bank. The
Biographical File includes a memoir Knapp wrote in 1997 which contains a summary of his career, childhood, and family life. The memoir details
his experiences as an economic advisor to Ambassador Robert Murphy in Germany at the end of World War II, as an unofficial
attendee of the Bretton Woods conference in 1944 and attendee of the organizing conference of the World Bank and IMF in 1946,
and as an employee of the World Bank. Many of these subjects are also discussed in the
Interviews.
The
World Bank File, which comprises the bulk of the collection, includes correspondence and memoranda documenting Knapp's work as vice president
of the Department of Operations (a role also referred to as chairman of the Loan Committee) of the World Bank.
The collection includes
Photographs of Knapp meeting world leaders Chiang Kai-shek, Kwame Nkrumah, and Jawaharlal Nehru, as well as attached letters from both
Kai-shek and Nehru.
Many folders contain explanatory notes, labeled commentary, which Knapp wrote in the early 1990s to describe the contents
of files and their relation to the historical period, or to provide an explanation of his work.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Economic assistance, American
Economic assistance
Economic development
Developing countries
Banks and banking, International
Economic assistance -- Latin America
World Bank