Post buckling behavior of a column with a transverse surface crack on the one side is studied, considering the local flexibility because of the crack. This flexibility, also called compliance, is known to be related to the stress intensity factor. This relation is generalized and expressed in the form of a complete local stiffness matrix of the cracked section of the beam. The Paris equation for the deflection of cracked members is extended for this purpose to give the generalized influence coefficients, being considered as incremental deflections because of the presence of the crack. Eigenvalue solutions for the buckling load are developed which do not differ for appreciably slender columns from known solutions based on some only of the local flexibility coefficients reported in the literature. Moreover, two distinct buckling modes have been identified to closing cracks, because of the different behavior of the cracked region in compression and tension or positive and negative bending modes. The post buckling behavior has been studied, for both buckling modes solving numerically the nonlinear equation for the elastica with the local flexibilities because of the crack. As expected, this behavior of the column is, in general, stable with positive slopes. However, due to the character of the closing cracks, jumping phenomena are governing the transition from the zero equilibrium to the post buckling equilibrium paths. The postbuckling behavior is finally tabulated for a simply supported column as a function of the crack depth.