Representative Charles Frederick Pracht

Charles Frederick Pracht (October 20, 1880 – December 22, 1950) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania who served one term in Congress from 1943 to 1945. Over the course of a long career in business and local government in Philadelphia, he became a prominent Republican Party figure before his election to national office.

Pracht was born in Pitman, Pennsylvania, on October 20, 1880. Details of his early family life and schooling are not extensively documented, but he came of age at a time of rapid industrial and urban growth in Pennsylvania, circumstances that would shape both his early business pursuits and later public service. He moved into the workforce as a young man, entering the commercial sector before the turn of the twentieth century.

From 1897 to 1914, Pracht was active in the toy, novelty, and notions business. This period in private enterprise provided him with experience in retail trade and small business operations during an era of expanding consumer markets. While engaged in business, he also began to build his political connections in Philadelphia, aligning himself with the city’s Republican organization.

Pracht’s formal political involvement deepened early in the new century. He became a member of Philadelphia’s Republican executive ward committee in 1904, an influential grassroots body within the city’s party structure. He ultimately served as chairman of this committee for twenty-five years, a role that placed him at the center of local party organization, candidate support, and voter mobilization. His long tenure as chairman reflected both his standing within the party and his sustained engagement in municipal and county affairs.

Beginning in 1915, Pracht transitioned from private business into public service in Philadelphia County government. From 1915 to 1929 he served as a children’s agent and investigator in the Philadelphia County commissioner’s office, work that involved oversight and investigation in matters affecting children and families under county jurisdiction. In 1930 and 1931 he served in the department of accounts under the clerk of the courts of quarter sessions, gaining further experience in the financial and administrative operations of the local justice system. From 1932 to 1942 he was a personal property assessor in the board of revision department, where he was responsible for the assessment of personal property for tax purposes, a position that required detailed knowledge of local taxation and valuation practices.

Building on decades of party and governmental experience, Pracht was elected as a Republican to the Seventy-eighth Congress, serving from 1943 to 1945 as a Representative from Pennsylvania. His single term in the U.S. House of Representatives coincided with a critical phase of World War II, a significant period in American history in which Congress addressed issues of wartime mobilization, finance, and postwar planning. During his tenure, Pracht served on the Committee on Accounts and the Committee on Civil Service, participating in the legislative process and contributing to the oversight of House expenditures and federal personnel matters. As a member of the House of Representatives, he represented the interests of his Pennsylvania constituents and took part in the broader democratic process at the national level.

Pracht was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1944 and thus concluded his congressional service at the end of his term in January 1945. After leaving Congress, he did not return to national office, and his later years were spent away from the federal legislative arena. He remained associated with the city of Philadelphia, where he had built his career in both politics and public administration.

Charles Frederick Pracht died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 22, 1950. He was interred at Lawnview Memorial Park in Rockledge, Pennsylvania. His life reflected a progression from small business to local government service and ultimately to the national legislature, marked by long-standing involvement in Republican Party organization and public administration in Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.