{"id":3293,"date":"2012-09-21T14:50:56","date_gmt":"2012-09-21T14:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/historynews\/?p=3293"},"modified":"2025-08-25T15:37:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T15:37:32","slug":"notes-from-the-franklin-littell-project-childhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/historynews\/2012\/09\/21\/notes-from-the-franklin-littell-project-childhood\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes from the Franklin Littell Project: Childhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Work on organizing the papers of\u00a0former Temple professor and father of American Holocaust Studies, Franklin H. Littell, is underway.\u00a0 Littell was a\u00a0scholar of religious history, whose focus lay in the history of\u00a0sects and of Christian\/Jewish relations.\u00a0 He also brought world-wide attention to the importance of studying the Holocaust and its causes, and a large percentage of the more than 400 linear feet of papers (think the equivalent of 50 four-drawer filing cabinets)\u00a0document\u00a0that work.\u00a0 This is the first occasional post about what we’re finding as we\u00a0preserve and organize the collection for research use.<\/p>\n

The collection offers a\u00a0complete portrait of Littell,\u00a0shedding light on not only his scholarly pursuits but also the many interests and influences in his complete life.\u00a0 Littell was a pacifist and a social activist.\u00a0 He was a minister and a Christian leader.\u00a0 He was a husband and a father.\u00a0\u00a0 And, though it is hard to imagine, at one point, he was a child.<\/p>\n

Only occasional records survive from Littell\u2019s childhood, but what exists offers a sufficient glimpse into his young mind. \u00a0Sparse examples of his writing show\u00a0a precocious child who floated between the worlds of children and\u00a0adults, and suggest that the ideals of his own adulthood were cultivated early.<\/p>\n

On Christmas Eve in 1931, a 14 year old Littell wrote to his pen-pal, S.M., sharing many details of his life and beliefs. (Based on the contents of the letter, it is possible S.M. was\u00a0the son or daughter of missionaries in China.)\u00a0 On one hand, the letter reflects the typical life of a 14 year old boy who apparently delighted in collecting stamps, was proud of his academic achievements, was a member of the Epworth League (church youth group), and was a good shot with a B-B gun.\u00a0 On the other hand, the letter shows a mature young man that was keenly aware of and concerned by international politics.\u00a0 He writes of Russian communism and Japanese aggression, and his distaste for war.\u00a0 In fact, in this letter, he explains how he vowed\u00a0never to participate in war.\u00a0 He held fast to that vow years later as World War II loomed, when he worked with Methodist Youth in Michigan to develop a governmentally sanctioned alternative service program for Methodist conscientious objectors.<\/p>\n

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