Processing was supported through a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Inc., and generous support from Norman Braman.
 

Collection Summary

Title
Franklin H. Littell Papers

Dates
1859-2014 (bulk 1934-2009) 

Collection ID
SCRC 85

Creator
Littell, Franklin H. (Franklin Hamlin), 1917-2009

Quantity
327.8 linear feet (674 boxes) + periodicals

Repository
Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries

Language
Materials in English and German
           
Detailed Collection Information

Abstract 
Franklin H. Littell (1917-2009), professor and department head of Temple University’s Department of Religion, was a Methodist minister, pacifist, activist, proponent of religious liberty, historian, and supporter of the State of Israel. He advocated against political extremism, was active in the rehabilitation of Germany after World War II, and dedicated himself to the study of the Holocaust. The Franklin H. Littell Papers house a variety of correspondence, research and writing, planning, organizational and administrative records, ephemera and printed materials, collected reference and other papers documenting Littell’s work and interests in religious liberty; anti-extremism; interfaith cooperation; church history; Methodism, ministry and the laity; education, especially religion in education; and the study and memorialization of the Holocaust.

Biographical Note

Timeline of Franklin H. Littell's Life

Franklin H. Littell (1917-2009), a teacher and ordained Methodist minister, was also a pacifist and social activist, proponent of the Christian laity, advocate for new religious movements, historian, political commentator, and supporter of the State of Israel. He advocated against political extremism, was active in the rehabilitation of Germany after World War II, and dedicated himself to the study of the Holocaust. Among other academic appointments, Littell was professor, and department head of Temple University’s Department of Religion between 1969 and 1986.    

Littell was born June 20, 1917, in Syracuse, New York, the oldest child of Clair and Lena Hamlin Littell. He and his three sisters, Claire, Marjorie and Eloise, and his brother, Wallace, were raised in Mount Vernon, Iowa, where his father was a professor at Cornell College. The Littells were devoted Methodists, pacifists, and socially conscious. Littell was ordained a Methodist minister as a teenager and graduated with his BA in History and Political Science from Cornell College in 1937.

Littell enrolled in Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 1937. There he studied church history with theologians Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, and graduated in Spring 1940. While a student at Union, Littell worked with the youth at the Fort Washington Collegiate Church in New York City and the general congregation of Myrtle Beach Community Church in Connecticut. Following his graduation from Union, he worked as youth minister at the Central Methodist Church in Detroit.

Around 1936, Littell became involved with the National Council of Methodist Youth (NCMY), through which he met his first wife, Harriet Lewis. The NCMY partnered with other prominent peace organizations, including the Youth Committee Against War, for which Littell served as an officer, and the United Student Peace Committee. In his work with these organizations, Littell took a public stand against United States involvement in World War II, and received national attention after delivering testimony before the House Committee on Naval Affairs against increased military spending. In June 1939, Franklin and Harriet Littell, and forty-one other American youth, attended the first International Conference of Christian Youth in Amsterdam and toured Europe, just prior to the start of World War II.

Littell earned a PhD from Yale University in 1946, after working with noted church historians Roland Bainton and Kenneth Scott Latourette. Littell and Harriet then returned to Michigan, when he was hired as Director of the Student Religion Association at the University of Michigan. There he continued to develop his “Tens for Christ,” a rubric for small groups to practice their faith outside of service to the church.

In 1949, Littell relocated to Germany, where he worked for the United States Office of Military Government and the High Commission for Occupied Germany. In his role as religious advisor, he worked with the Evangelical (Protestant) Church in Germany, at first in de-nazification and later in anti-communism programs.

Through this work with the US government and later as director of the Franz Lieber Haus in Bonn, Germany, Littell became connected with German Protestant leaders and the lay movement. He helped plan and administer the Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag (German Evangelical Church Assembly), an inter-denominational, revival-like convention first held in 1949. He was also involved in the administration of the Evangelische Akademien (evangelical academies), a series of lay centers that linked Protestant faith with everyday life.

Upon returning to the United States, Littell’s work centered on his role as a professor and university administrator. Though he spent most of the 1950s in Germany, during the 1952-1953 academic year Littell served as Dean of the Chapel at Boston University. Between 1958 and 1969, Littell held professorships at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, where he taught for the first time a seminar on the Holocaust and Church Struggle, the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Texas, and the Chicago Theological Seminary. From 1966 to 1969, he was also President of Iowa Wesleyan College.

Littell was wary of any extremist group and broadcasted his concerns in speeches, lectures, books, and newspaper articles. In the 1960s, at Iowa Wesleyan College, he established the Freedom Institute, which encouraged the study of totalitarianism and he served as chairman of the Institute for American Democracy (IAD). The IAD was dedicated to educating against and exposing extremism in American society, particularly on the far right.

At the same time, Littell began work on his book Wild Tongues: A Handbook of Social Pathology (1969). In this volume, he targeted specific extremist groups and individuals, including William F. Buckley, Jr., who later sued him for libel. In Wild Tongues, he also introduced his “Early Warning System,” a grid which was designed to analyze and identify potentially totalitarian, genocidal groups or governmental regimes.

Littell joined the Department of Religion at Temple University in 1969. Temple’s department was grounded in inter-religious academic cooperation and staffed with professors specializing in a diversity of religious history. He remained at Temple until his retirement in 1986. Both before and after his retirement, Littell also held numerous short term teaching appointments at various universities in the United States and abroad. Most notably, he was granted adjunct status at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was the Ida E. King Distinguished Visiting Professor of Holocaust Studies at Stockton College in New Jersey.

Littell was a life-long champion of constitutionally protected religious liberty. In the 1980s, he established The Hamlin Institute, which provided a channel through which he could actively fight for that cause. He wrote “Proclaim Liberty,” a syndicated newspaper column, and he advocated for the rights of new religious movements. Littell served as a consultant to the Church of Scientology International, becoming involved with several court cases, and participated in Unification Church-sponsored educational tours.

Littell devoted more than fifty years of his life to the study and memorialization of the Holocaust, and it was while he was at Temple that this work gained real momentum. Littell encouraged an interfaith approach to the examination of the Holocaust and its meaning in history, and he established conferences and founded institutes to stimulate that type of analysis.

In 1970, with Hubert G. Locke, a professor at Wayne State University, Littell established the Annual Scholars Conference on the Holocaust and Church Struggle (ASC). The ASC provided a forum for discussion on the Holocaust in the United States. Littell later partnered with Robert Maxwell, British millionaire and media magnate, and his wife Elisabeth, in planning the Europe-based conference, “Remembering for the Future,” held in 1988, 1994, and 2000.

In 1975, Littell was involved in organizing the first Philadelphia Conference on the Holocaust, spurring the establishment of the Philadelphia Coordinating Council on the Holocaust. At Temple University, in 1976, Littell founded the PhD major in Holocaust studies and established the National Institute on the Holocaust (NIH), an interfaith education center. A direct result of these efforts was the inclusion of Holocaust education in the School District of Philadelphia’s curriculum.

In the 1980s, the NIH changed its name to the Anne Frank Institute. The organization retained its primary purpose of education, and worked towards the creation of a museum. Littell and his second wife, Marcia Sachs Littell, who was Executive Director resigned from the Institute in the late 1980s and then organized the Philadelphia Center on the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights.

Beginning in 1979, Littell served as a member of the Advisory Board to the President’s Commission on the Holocaust and as a presidentially appointed member of the subsequent United States Holocaust Memorial Council. This group was tasked with developing a plan for the construction and purpose of a national memorial. Their work culminated fifteen years later, when the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum opened its doors to the public in 1993.

A prolific writer, Littell wrote or contributed to dozens of volumes and delivered hundreds of papers and addresses on the topics of church and religious history, religious liberty, totalitarianism, interfaith cooperation, extremism, and the Holocaust. Some of his more notable scholarly works, The German Phoenix (1960) and The Crucifixion of the Jews (1975), focus on the long term implications of the church struggle with totalitarianism, the Holocaust, and the founding of the State of Israel. He regularly wrote commentary on these issues and others in his syndicated newspaper columns, “Lest We Forget” and “Proclaim Liberty.”  

Description of Collection
The Franklin H. Littell Papers include correspondence; research and writing files; planning, organizational and administrative records; ephemera and printed materials; and collected reference and other papers, documenting the life and work of Franklin Littell. His primary concerns of religious liberty; anti-extremism; interfaith cooperation; church history; Methodism, ministry and the laity; teaching and education, especially religion in education; and the study and memorialization of the Holocaust and German Church Struggle are woven throughout the files. The papers, which span his entire life, offer evidence of his participation and leadership in many activities and organizations with wide-reaching impact.

This collection documents Littell’s social activism and participation in the national peace movement in the 1930s and 1940s through his work with the National Council of Methodist Youth and other organizations; his early ministry in New York City, Connecticut, and Detroit, and his life and work in Germany in the 1950s. There is documentation of his role as religious advisor to the United States occupation government as well as his work with the Protestant Churches and laity through records of the Franz Lieber Haus, Evangelical Academies, and the Kirchentag.

Records documenting Littell’s long academic career are also included, from his tenure as Dean of the Chapel and professor of Religion at Boston University in 1952 to his decades-long career at Temple University during the 1970s and 1980s, as well as visiting and distinguished professorships at Baylor University, Stockton College, and other schools. Complimentary to that are papers related to his research and writing projects, including papers and correspondence pertaining to his published books, and copies of his published articles, his syndicated column on the Holocaust and related issues, “Lest We Forget,” as well as his many speeches and lectures.

Littell’s work to promote an interfaith approach to understanding the Holocaust are documented in records related to the establishment of the Annual Scholars Conference, as well as the papers of the Philadelphia Center on the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights and its predecessors, the National Institute on the Holocaust and Anne Frank Institute; Remembering for the Future International Conference; President’s Commission on the Holocaust and United States Holocaust Memorial Council; and the Philadelphia Coordinating Council on the Holocaust.

Littell established and directed several centers for the diffusion of information on extremism in the United States, support for the State of Israel, and issues of religious liberty in contemporary society. This collection evidences his work for each of these causes, and offer insight into the various attitudes and actions of the American and international publics on these issues from the 1960s to the 1990s. Of note are papers documenting his run-ins with leaders of the radical right like Billy James Hargis, Carl McIntire, and the John Birch Society in the 1960s, and papers related to his involvements with the Church of Scientology and the Unification Church in the 1980s and 1990s. Additionally researchers will find a small collection of national media coverage of the 1993 federal attack on the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, as well as Littell’s public response to that event.

Littell also keenly observed or maintained short- and long-term affiliations with established religious and other organizations. Organizational affiliations documented in the collection include the Committee on Advancing the Democratic Process, the Association of College and University Religious Affairs, National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, National Council of Christians and Jews, and the United Methodist Church, Board of Christian Social Concerns.

A small collection related to Littell’s education and personal life includes papers and keepsakes from his childhood and adult life, as well as correspondence with his family. Early correspondence with his parents, siblings, and his first wife, Harriet, as well as papers related to his education are especially worthwhile.

Researchers interested in particular activities or projects in which Littell was involved are advised to begin by consulting series and subseries associated with relevant organizations and tasks. Researchers should then review folder lists for Series 1: General correspondence; Series 13: Journal; and Series 15: General reference for related records. Refer to the series scope and contents notes and folder lists for more information on the contents and arrangement of each series.

Organization and Arrangement
The collection is divided into 16 series. Most of the series correlate with specific periods of time in Littell’s life and/or areas of work and interest. The series are further divided into subseries, often based on organizational affiliations.

Series 1: General correspondence, 1940-2009
          Subseries 1.1: Correspondence, 1940-1963
          Subseries 1.2: Correspondence, 1963-2009
          Subseries 1.3: Memoranda, 1956-2004, undated
          Subseries 1.4: “Nut File,” 1961-1988, undated

Series 2: Youth work, 1934-1991 (bulk 1936-1945)
          Subseries 2.1: National Council of Methodist Youth, 1934-1991 (bulk 1936-1941) (Partially digitized)
          Subseries 2.2: Other youth organizations, 1936-1950
          Subseries 2.3: Ministry and lay training, 1937-1968 (bulk 1937-1945)
          Subseries 2.4: Early correspondence, 1938-1941

Series 3: Germany, 1934-2005 (bulk 1949-1960)
          Subseries 3.1: General Life in Germany, 1934-1980s (bulk 1940s-1950s)
          Subseries 3.2: High Commission for Occupied Germany/Office of Military Government, US, 1946-1953
          Subseries 3.3: Franz Lieber Haus, 1951-1959, 1970
          Subseries 3.4: Evangelische Akademien (evangelical academies), 1949-2005 (bulk 1949-1966)
          Subseries 3.5: Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag (German Evangelical Church Congress), 1947-1991
          Subseries 3.6: Ecumenical Association of Academies and Laity Centers in Europe, 1954-1999

Series 4: Academic appointments, 1946-2012 (bulk 1951-1996)
          Subseries 4.1: Boston University, 1951-2001 (bulk 1951-1953)
          Subseries 4.2: Emory University, Candler School of Theology, 1958-1968 (bulk 1958-1960)
          Subseries 4.3: Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology, 1959-1997 (bulk 1959-1962)
          Subseries 4.4: Chicago Theological Seminary, 1960-1970
          Subseries 4.5: Iowa Wesleyan College, 1966-1976
          Subseries 4.6: Temple University, 1968-2004 (bulk 1968-1988)
          Subseries 4.7: Stockton College, 1989-2012 (Portions restricted)
          Subseries 4.8: Short term teaching appointments, 1946-2002 (bulk 1970-1996)
          Subseries 4.9: Student records, 1955-2002 (bulk 1970-1990) (Restricted)
 
Series 5: Holocaust remembrance work, 1950-2014 (bulk 1970-2009)
          Subseries 5.1: Annual Scholars Conference, 1970-2014 (bulk 1970-2010)
          Subseries 5.2: Philadelphia Center on the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights, 1975-2007 (bulk 1976-2000)
          Subseries 5.3: Remembering for the Future International Conference, 1985-2000 (bulk 1988-2000)
          Subseries 5.4: President’s Commission on the Holocaust and United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 1978-2006
          Subseries 5.5: Philadelphia Coordinating Council on the Holocaust, 1975-1988
          Subseries 5.6: Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 1979-2002
          Subseries 5.7: Yad Vashem, 1978-2006
          Subseries 5.8: Reference materials, circa 1950-2008

Series 6: Institute for American Democracy, 1949-1980s (bulk 1966-1976)

Series 7: Organized support for the State of Israel, 1969-2008
          Subseries 7.1: Christians Concerned for Israel, 1969-1983
          Subseries 7.2: National Christian Leadership Council for Israel, 1975-2008

Series 8: Religious Liberty work, 1970-2006 (bulk 1981-1999)
          Subseries 8.1: The Hamlin Institute, 1981-1988
          Subseries 8.2: Unification church, 1981-2002 (bulk 1981-1988)
          Subseries 8.3: American Conference on Religious Movements, 1988-1997
          Subseries 8.4: Church of Scientology International, 1970-2006 (bulk 1980-1999)

Series 9: Waco Branch Davidian Disaster, Texas, 1993-2003 (bulk 1993-1996)

Series 10: Small projects file, 1948-2008 (bulk 1955-1995)

Series 11: Professional affiliations, 1950-2008
          Subseries 11.1: American Academy of Religion, 1964-2006 (bulk 1972-1993)
          Subseries 11.2: Association of College and University Religious Affairs (ACURA), 1959-1994 (bulk 1959-1979)
          Subseries 11.3: Foundation for Reformation Research, 1958-1998
          Subseries 11.4: Institute for Contemporary Social Problems, 1974-1984
          Subseries 11.5: National Council of Churches of Christ, 1950-2002
          Subseries 11.6: National Council of Christians and Jews, 1952-1994
          Subseries 11.7: United Methodist Church, Board of Christian Social Concerns, 1964-1971
          Subseries 11.8: World Council of Churches, 1951-2008
 
Series 12: Research, writing and speaking, 1938-2006
          Subseries 12.1: Books and edited volumes, 1950-2003
          Subseries 12.2: Published articles and book reviews, 1937-2004
          Subseries 12.3: Early Warning System, 1971-2006
          Subseries 12.4: “Lest We Forget,” 1978-2002
          Subseries 12.5: Speeches, lectures, and article manuscripts, 1938-2006 (Digitized)
          Subseries 12.6: Manuscript fragments and loose notes, circa 1950-2000 (bulk undated)

Series 13: “Journal” file, 1936-2008
          Subseries 13.1: General journal, 1936-2008
          Subseries 13.2: Speaking engagement fliers and other advertisements, 1937-2006
          Subseries 13.3: Clippings (featuring Franklin H. Littell and/or his work), 1942-2007
          Subseries 13.4: Press releases, 1949-1993

Series 14: Personal and family papers, 1859-2010 (bulk 1934-2000) (Portions restricted)
          Subseries 14.1: Education, 1934-2007 (bulk 1934-1949)
          Subseries 14.2: Franklin H. Littell personal papers, 1917-2010 (Portions restricted)
          Subseries 14.3: Family correspondence, 1930-2008 (Portions restricted)
          Subseries 14.4: Harriet Lewis Littell papers, 1917-1979 (bulk 1934-1970) (Portions restricted)
          Subseries 14.5: Marcia Sachs Littell papers, 1973-2008 (Portions restricted)
          Subseries 14.6: Portraits and snapshots, 1918-2009
          Subseries 14.7: Family papers, 1859-1966 (bulk undated) (Portions restricted)

Series 15: General reference, 1863-2006 (bulk 1940-1990)
          Subseries 15.1: File 1, 1863-1999 (bulk 1940-1979)
          Subseries 15.2: File 2, 1930-2006 (bulk 1940-1990)

Series 16: Periodicals, circa 1900s-2000s

Series 1: General correspondence, 1940-2009, includes extensive correspondence with Littell’s personal and professional contacts. With the exception of his immediate family, the correspondence filed in this series relates to all aspects of his life and work. The letters are filed alphabetically by the name of the correspondent and/or an official representative of the correspondent, like a secretary or assistant. Occasionally, letters are filed by the name of the organization that the correspondent represented, but this is rare. Researchers should note that there is also significant, additional correspondence filed in each of the other series and subseries, pertaining to particular organizations, events or projects and that likely complement the correspondence housed in this series. The correspondence is arranged into four subseries: Subseries 1.1: Correspondence, 1940-1963; Subseries 1.2: Correspondence, 1964-2009; Subseries 1.3: Memoranda; and Subseries 1.4: “Nut file.”

Subseries 1.1: Correspondence, 1940-1963, contains incoming and outgoing letters maintained in alphabetical order by correspondent name. Individuals who engaged in more than fifteen exchanges with Littell are represented in their own files. Likewise, high profile correspondents, regardless of the type or quantity of the correspondence, are typically maintained in separate files. Researchers should note that while the majority of correspondence in this series falls from 1940 to 1963, there may be outliers dating from before or after that date span.

Subseries 1.2: Correspondence, 1964-2009, contains incoming and outgoing letters maintained in alphabetical order by correspondent name. Individuals who engaged in more than fifteen exchanges with Littell are represented in their own files. Likewise, high profile correspondents, regardless of the type or quantity of the correspondence, are typically maintained in separate files. Researchers should note that while the majority of correspondence in this series falls from 1964 to 2009, there may be outliers dating from before or after that date span.

Subseries 1.3: Memoranda, 1956-2004, undated, is arranged in chronological order, and houses outgoing memoranda that pertain to many of Littell’s primary areas of professional interest.

Subseries 1.4: “Nut File,” 1961-1988, undated, was assembled and named by Littell. In this group, he gathered letters sent to him by individuals that were outspoken in their disapproval of his message and beliefs. There are other similar letters found throughout the collection. The letters here are arranged in chronological order.

Series 2: Youth work, 1934-1991 (bulk 1936-1945), details Littell’s and wife, Harriet Lewis Littell’s early activities in the national youth movement and in establishing themselves in the Methodist ministry. Housing a variety of correspondence and administrative records, Series 2 is arranged into four subseries based on organizational affiliation or activity: Subseries 2.1: National Council of Methodist Youth; Subseries 2.2: Other youth organizations; Subseries 2.3: Ministry and lay training; and Subseries 2.4: Early correspondence.

Subseries 2.1: National Council of Methodist Youth, 1934-1991 (bulk 1936-1941) (partially digitized), contains correspondence, printed materials, minutes, reports, and a variety of other records produced or maintained by Littell, detailing his involvement in youth organizations like the National Council of Methodist Youth (NCMY). Major players in the national peace movement, existing records of the NCMY also document the planning of national conferences, as well as the First International Conference of Christian Youth in Amsterdam in 1939, which Franklin and Harriet Littell attended. Though to a much lesser degree, the NCMY records also reference issues surrounding civil rights and segregation, agricultural workers’ rights, the reunification of the Methodist Church, and interfaith cooperation. The majority of papers were produced or collected through Franklin Littell’s involvement; however, a small group of records produced and/or gathered by Harriet Littell and Ellen Lund, both leaders in the NCMY, can also be found here. A majority of Franklin Littell’s records from his work with the NCMY have been digitized and are available on the Libraries’ website: http://digital.library.temple.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16002coll14.

Subseries 2.2: Other Youth Organizations, 1936-1950, contains correspondence, printed materials minutes, reports, and other records documenting Littell’s involvement with organizations such as the Methodist Federation for Social Action, Youth Committee Against War, and the United Student Peace Committee.
 
Subseries 2.3: Ministry and lay training, 1937-1968 (bulk 1937-1945), documents Littell’s involvement in the ministry, mostly working with youth and the laity in congregations in New York, Connecticut and Michigan. The papers in this subseries are arranged by church name or administrative body and document his work at Fort Washington Collegiate Church in New York City, Myrtle Beach Church in Connecticut, and the Central Methodist Church in Detroit, Michigan. There are also papers relating to his work as the director of the Student Religious Association at the University of Michigan and his “Tens for Christ” rubric for small group work. The files consist of correspondence, reports, assorted administrative records, sermon notes, newspaper clippings, and ephemera.

Subseries 2.4: Early correspondence, 1938-1941, consists of general correspondence, dating from 1938 to 1941. Primarily concerned with his work with the National Council of Methodist Youth and related organizations, the correspondence also more generally details Littell’s beliefs in pacifism and other areas of social concern, his school work, and his day to day life during that time. The correspondence is filed by year, and then alphabetically by the correspondent's last name. There is complimentary correspondence with many of the same people in Series 1: General correspondence, which researchers should consult as well. Also related is early correspondence with his family, found in Series 14.

Series 3: Germany, 1934-2005 (bulk 1949-1960), houses documentation of Littell’s work as religious advisor to the United States government and director of the Franz Lieber Haus in West Germany, where he was involved with denazification and anticommunism efforts, and intimately connected with the Protestant Churches and laity in Germany. There are a variety of records to evidence Littell’s work in the occupation government, life in West Germany, and with various church-based projects, especially the Evangelische Akademien (evangelical academies), Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag (German Evangelical Church Congress), and the Ecumenical Association of Academies and Laity Centers in Europe. The series also more generally documents the work of the evangelical academies, the Kirchentag and the Ecumenical Association beyond Littell’s active years in Germany. The files in this series contain administrative records, reports, correspondence, and a variety of printed materials and ephemera. Many of the administrative records and reports are in English, but some are in German. The correspondence is in English and German, and many of the records relating to the evangelical academies and the Kirchentag are in German.

The series is arranged into six subseries, each representing one of the primary organizations with which Littell was involved: Subseries 3.1: General Life in Germany; Subseries 3.2: High Commission for Occupied Germany/Office of Military Government, US; Subseries 3.3: Franz Lieber Haus; Subseries 3.4. Evangelische Akademien (evangelical academies); Subseries 3.5: Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag (German Evangelical Church Congress); and Subseries 3.6: Ecumenical Association of Academies and Laity Centers in Europe.

Subseries 3.1: General Life in Germany, 1934-1980s (bulk 1940s-1950s), houses a small assortment of correspondence, reports and other personal effects relating to Littell’s experience living and working in Germany. There is also a small collection of printed materials about Germany and the German Church, some of which are written in German.

Subseries 3.2: High Commission for Occupied Germany/Office of Military Government, US, 1946-1953, houses correspondence, reports and other records documenting Littell’s work as a religious advisor to the Office of Military Government and subsequent High Commission. There are also more general records, printed materials and publications produced by or about the occupation government in Germany.

Subseries 3.3: Franz Lieber Haus, 1951-1959, 1970, holds records produced during Littell’s tenure as director of the Franz Lieber Haus in Bonn. Correspondence, memoranda, reports and other materials document Littell’s and the Franz Lieber Haus’ work with the evangelical academies, Kirchentag, and more generally, the laity and protestant churches in Germany.

Subseries 3.4: Evangelische Akademien (evangelical academies), 1949-2005 (bulk 1949-1966), contains records relating to Littell’s work with the academies, as well as documentation of programs produced by the academies after Littell’s active years. The records produced by evangelical academies are arranged alphabetically by academy name or location.

Subseries 3.5: Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag (German Evangelical Church Congress), 1947-1991, contains records relating to Littell’s work with the organization, as well as for years after his active involvement, and  is arranged chronologically by conference year.

Subseries 3.6: Ecumenical Association of Academies and Laity Centers in Europe, 1954-1999, houses records documenting the work of the Ecumenical Association, which Littell helped found and was involved in during the 1950s. While early records offer some evidence of Littell’s contributions, a majority of the files house general meeting minutes, reports and other materials produced by the Ecumenical Association to update its constituents of its activities.

Series 4: Academic appointments (Protions restricted), 1946-2012 (bulk 1951-1996), contains records evidencing Littell’s teaching and administrative positions at colleges and universities. The series is arranged into eight subseries, based on institutional affiliations: Subseries 4.1: Boston University; Subseries 4.2: Emory University; Subseries 4.3: Southern Methodist University; Subseries 4.4: Chicago Theological Seminary; Subseries 4.5: Iowa Wesleyan College; Subseries 4.6: Temple University; Subseries 4.7: Stockton College (Portions restricted); Subseries 4.8: Short term teaching appointments; and Subseries 4.9: Student records (Restricted).

For each appointment, researchers will find a variety of correspondence, memoranda, reports and administrative records, syllabi and other teaching materials. In addition to documenting the administration of the institution and/or department in which he worked, the papers often offer evidence of extracurricular activities closely affiliated with his university work. For example, researchers will find information related to his anti-extremist activities in the 1960s in 4.5: Iowa Wesleyan College (see also: Series 6: Institute for American Democracy); and papers documenting Temple University’s Center for the Study of World Religions in 4.6: Temple University. For information on his years directing the Student Religious Association at the University of Michigan in the 1940s, please refer to Series 2.

There are materials in Subseries 4.7: Stockton College and Subseries 4.9: Student records that are closed to research for fifty or seventy-five years from the date of creation. Please see the folder list for more information.

Series 5: Holocaust remembrance work, 1950-2014 (bulk 1970-2009), houses records of seven Holocaust remembrance organizations or conferences that Littell helped found and/or direct or in which he was actively involved. The series is arranged into eight subseries, which includes subseries for each of the seven organizations, as well as a large reference file. For each of the organizations represented, researchers will find a mix of correspondence and memoranda; minutes, planning materials and other administrative records; newspaper clippings; and printed materials and ephemera documenting programs to promote study of the Holocaust and educate the public. Series 5 is organized into 8 subseries: Subseries 5.1: Annual Scholars Conference, Subseries 5.2: Philadelphia Center on the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights, Subseries 5.3: Remembering for the Future International Conference, Subseries 5.4: United States Holocaust Memorial Council, Philadelphia Coordinating Council on the Holocaust, Subseries 5.5: Philadelphia Coordinating Council on the Holocaust, Subseries 5.6: Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Subseries 5.7: Yad Vashem (Jerusalem), and Subseries 5.8: Reference.

Subseries 5.1: Annual Scholars Conference, 1970-2014 (bulk 1970-2010), documents the conference founded by Littell with Dr. Hubert Locke in 1970. The first conference, “The German Church Struggle and the Holocaust,” was held at Wayne State University. Held annually thereafter, the ASC engendered wide-ranging exploration of issues surrounding the Holocaust, with each year tackling a different approach. The ASC was hosted by universities around the United States and maintained sponsoring partnerships with related agencies, including the National Council of Christians and Jews and the Philadelphia Center on the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights. The records are arranged in chronological order by conference year, with files housing a mix of correspondence, planning materials, ephemera and printed materials, and conference submissions. The amount and type of documentation available for each conference varies significantly. For some years there are also audio and/or video recordings of the conference sessions.

Processing of the small amount of digital materials in the Franklin H. Littell Papers is underway.  These materials primarily relate to this subseries. Information about their content will be added to the finding aid shortly. In the interim, please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.

Subseries 5.2: Philadelphia Center on the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights, 1975-2007 (bulk 1976-2000), documents the center established by Littell at Temple University in 1976, as the National Institute on the Holocaust (NIH). NIH supported interfaith and interdisciplinary study of the Holocaust. It developed teaching materials and planned and sponsored conferences and other events to raise public awareness and understanding of the Holocaust. During the 1980s, NIH worked to establish a children’s museum and learning center in Philadelphia. It separated from Temple and was renamed the Anne Frank Institute (AFI). About 1990, AFI became the Philadelphia Center on the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights, and Littell and his wife Marcia Sachs Littell led the organization as President and Executive Director.

Representing the work of the Philadelphia Center and its predecessor organizations are administrative records, correspondence, ephemera and printed materials. The first group of records pertains to specific administrative bodies, events or programs, financial records, and printed materials. Following are several files of general correspondence and correspondence with specific individuals. Rounding out the subseries are files of mixed correspondence, memoranda and administrative records, arranged chronologically.

Subseries 5.3: Remembering for the Future International Conference, 1985-2000 (bulk 1988-2000), contains records related to the international conference on the Holocaust planned by Franklin and Marcia Littell, with significant financial and planning support from British media magnate, Robert Maxwell, and his wife, Elisabeth, among others. The 1988 conference was such a success that the planning team reunited for a second conference that was held in Germany in 1994 and a third, held in England in 2000.

Papers documenting all three conferences consist of correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, printed materials and ephemera. The records are arranged by conference year, with several files of general correspondence with various planning team members, including Yehuda Bauer, Sharon Gutman, Erich Geldbach and Elisabeth Maxwell, preceding the records for the 1988 conference. Researchers should also consult Series 1: General correspondence for additional information.

Subseries 5.4: President’s Commission on the Holocaust and United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 1978-2006, houses records documenting Littell’s contributions as an advisor to the work of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust and as a presidentially appointed member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. To a much lesser degree, there is also documentation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Included are correspondence and memoranda, records relating to museum and educational planning; minutes and reports of committees; financial records; correspondence and memoranda relating to administrative matters; records relating to the Days of Remembrance; conference and educational materials; press releases, newsletters, and assorted ephemera; printed materials, newspaper, and other published articles.

Subseries 5.5: Philadelphia Coordinating Council on the Holocaust, 1975-1988, documents the council established by Franklin Littell and others around 1977, though its origins date back to 1975 when the first Philadelphia Conference on the Holocaust was held. Working with the Memorial Committee for the Six Million Jewish Martyrs, the Coordinating Council was led by Christian and Jewish leaders in Philadelphia—its primary function to plan the annual Philadelphia Conference on the Holocaust. Arranged in chronological order by conference year, the subseries mainly consists of conference proceedings, correspondence, planning materials and newspaper clippings for eleven annual conferences held from 1975 to 1986.

Subseries 5.6: Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 1979-2002, contains records related to this journal, for which Littell served as book editor from about 1990 to 1996. This small group of records consists of book review submissions and related correspondence, arranged chronologically.

Subseries 5.7: Yad Vashem (Jerusalem), 1978-2006, contains records related to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, established in 1953 and entrusted with documenting and preserving the history of the Jewish people during the Holocaust period. Littell was the first Christian to become a member of the International Council of Yad Vashem. The records in this subseries include correspondence, reports, conference and workshop materials, and Yad Vashem publications, brochures and other printed materials. Of note, is a transcript from an interview with Franklin Littell, conducted by Yehuda Bauer.

Subseries 5.8: Reference, circa 1950-2008, houses reference materials or subject files about the Holocaust, especially commemorating and teaching about the Holocaust. A true mix of printed and promotional materials, published and unpublished scholarly writing, newspaper clippings and other records are organized loosely by subject, creator or creative body and are presented in alphabetical order.  Files containing curriculum guides and teaching materials are particularly noteworthy. Following the alphabetically arranged subject files are a collection of reprints of relevant articles published in scholarly journals about the Holocaust and other related topics. The reprints are filed loosely in alphabetical order by author name.

Series 6: Institute for American Democracy, 1949-1980s (bulk 1966-1976), includes records related to the IAD, which was founded in 1966 as an agency to expose political extremism in American society. Littell was a founding member and served as its chairman, beginning in 1966. The records in this series pertain to Littell’s and the IAD’s general efforts to curb extremism in America, as well as their response to altercations with radical groups, particularly those associated with the far right, like the John Birch Society, Carl McIntire and Billy James Hargis. The series holds records of annual meetings, reports of the Executive and Sponsoring Committees, general correspondence, collected materials on the John Birch Society and Fairness Doctrine, clippings, printed materials, and issues of the IAD newsletter, Homefront. The correspondence files offer communications with leaders of the radical right as well as printed materials produced by radical right groups, including some in which Littell is the primary subject.

Researchers interested in Littell’s work with the IAD and his encounters with extremists in the 1960s should also consult Series 1: General correspondence; Subseries 4.5: Iowa Wesleyan College; Subseries 12.1: Books and edited volumes, particularly files documenting his volume Wild Tongues; and Series 13: “Journal file.” In Series 13 there are two particularly excellent files dating from 1965, detailing his run-ins with Billy James Hargis, as well as the “Let Freedom Ring” phone campaign.

Series 7: Organized support for the State of Israel, 1969-2008, documents Littell’s strong support of the State of Israel. From about 1971 to 1980 Littell wrote and published the CCI Notebook and advocated for Christian support of the State of Israel through his organization, Christians Concerned for Israel. Littell was also a founding member and president of the National Christian Leadership Council for Israel, which was established around 1978. The series is divided into two subseries, Subseries 7.1: Christians Concerned for Israel and Subseries 7.2: National Christian Leadership Council for Israel.

Subseries 7.1: Christians Concerned for Israel, 1969-1983, houses a full run of issues of the CCI Notebook, as well as correspondence related to distribution of the newsletter and its production.

Subseries 7.2: National Christian Leadership Council for Israel, 1975-2008, houses a variety of correspondence, administrative and other records documenting the work of the NCLCI as well as Littell’s involvement with the organization.

Series 8: Religious Liberty work, 1970-2006 (bulk 1981-1999), houses records for four organizations in which Littell was directly involved in regard to issues of religious liberty. This series is organized into 4 subseries: Subseries 8.1: The Hamlin Institute, Subseries 8.2: Unification Church, Subseries 8.3: American Conference on Religious Movements, and Subseries 8.4: Church of Scientology International.

Subseries 8.1: The Hamlin Institute, 1981-1988, contains records documenting the institute founded by Littell around 1981, through which he regularly worked as a consultant, expert witness, and educator in religious liberty. Among other concerns, through this organization he became involved with both the Unification Church and Church of Scientology International. Documentation of the Hamlin Institute includes correspondence and miscellaneous administrative and financial records dating from 1981 to 1988. Additionally, there are manuscript copies of Littell’s syndicated column, “Proclaim Liberty.” Featured in several newspapers, “Proclaim Liberty” offered commentary on contemporary issues surrounding the concept of religious liberty.

Subseries 8.2: Unification Church, 1981-2002 (bulk 1981-1988), documents Littell’s involvement with the Unification Church, including as a speaker at several Church-sponsored conferences and as a member of the Advisory Council to the Unification Movement International (ACUMI).  Records include general correspondence; press releases and legal documents pertaining to the Church’s legal embroilments, particularly the United States of America v. Sun Myung Moon and Takeru Kamiyana; concerns surrounding the kidnapping and “deprogramming” of Church members and other anti-cult groups and ideology; correspondence and newsletters regarding Church-sponsored conferences and foundations; clippings and collected materials pertaining generally to Church affairs and teachings.

Subseries 8.3: American Conference on Religious Movements, 1988-1997, documents this agency founded in 1986 as “a center of information and communication for religious movements in America…”.  Littell served as a founding member and chairman of its Board of Directors. Records include general correspondence and memoranda pertaining to the activities of ACRM and its leaders, Board of Directors’ meeting minutes, conference planning materials and newsletters. Following a few files pertaining to specific board meetings and conferences, are a series of chronologically arranged general files that contain a mix of correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports, and other administrative records.

Subseries 8.4: Church of Scientology International, 1970-2006 (bulk 1980-1999), documents Littell’s involvement with Scientology. Littell served as a consultant to the Church of Scientology International. While the majority of Littell’s efforts dealt with Scientology’s issues internationally, he was also concerned with several of the church’s legal issues within the United States, including the case Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology of California.

The materials housed here contain a mix of correspondence and other records pertaining to the Church of Scientology and Littell’s involvement with it, including correspondence with its president, Heber Jentzsch. There are printed materials and other records documenting attacks on the church in Germany and other countries, as well as publications evidencing the church and its work more generally. Researchers interested in Littell’s connections with the Church of Scientology should also consult Series 1: General correspondence, where there is additional correspondence with Heber Jentzsch.

Series 9: Waco Branch Davidian disaster, Texas, 1993-2003 (bulk 1993-1996), contains records related to Littell’s reaction to the events in Waco. When Littell served as visiting professor at Baylor University, he was moved by the tragic events of the 1993 siege upon the Mount Carmel Center, a compound belonging to the religious group Branch Davidians, led by David Koresh.  Littell described the siege as “a quasi-military assault, worthy of Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia…launched on a group of Americans of odd beliefs and practices.” Littell was not directly involved in any aspect of the 1993 attack on the Branch Davidians, but he collected clippings from newspapers across the United States and provided public commentary.

Series 10: Small projects file, 1948-2008 (bulk 1955-1995), documents Littell’s involvement in dozens of small and short-term projects, often relating directly to his chief interests. Records pertaining to these projects and affiliations are gathered in this series, alphabetically by project or organization name. Among others, researchers will find files regarding the American Civil Liberties Union, especially the Church-State Committee; the Bicentennial Conference on Religious Liberty; the East Harlem Protestant Parish; Faith in Life Dialogue; the newsletter, the History of the Church Struggle with Nazism; the National Committee on American Foreign Policy; and Nes Ammim, a Christian community in Israel. Review the folder list for more details.

Series 11: Professional affiliations, 1950-2008, documents Littell’s long term affiliations, often in leadership positions, with numerous organizations. Series 11 is subdivided into 8 subseries, each representing an organization in which Littell was actively involved: Subseries 11.1: American Academy of Religion; Subseries 11.2: Association of College and University Religious Affairs; Subseries 11.3: Foundation for Reformation Research; Subseries 11.4: Institute for Contemporary Social Problems; Subseries 11.5: National Council of Churches of Christ; Subseries 11.6: National Council of Christians and Jews; Subseries 11.7: United Methodist Church, Board of Christian Social Concerns; and Subseries 11.8: World Council of Churches.

Littell served each organization in various capacities, particularly as its activities related to interfaith dialogue, religious liberty, support for the State of Israel, religion in education, and assorted contemporary social issues. Researchers will find a mix of correspondence, memoranda, administrative records, printed materials and publications, documenting Littell’s involvement with each organization as well as its general activities. The amount of documentation available for each of the organizations varies significantly.

Series 12: Research, writing and speaking, 1938-2006, documents Littell’s many research and publication projects, as well as his frequently delivered speeches and lectures. The series is divided into six subseries: Subseries 12.1: Books and edited volumes, Subseries 12.2: Published articles and book reviews, Subseries 12.3: Early Warning System, Subseries 12.4: “Lest We Forget,” Subseries 12.5: Speeches, lectures, and article manuscripts, and Subseries 12.6: Manuscript fragments and loose notes.

Subseries 12.1: Books and edited volumes, 1950-2003, is arranged in order of publication, and contains records evidencing production and publication for many of Littell’s major book projects, including: The Anabaptist View of the Church (1952), The German Phoenix: Men and Movements in the Church in Germany (1960); Weltkirchenlexicon: Handbuch der Oekumene (1960); Wild Tongues: A Handbook of Social Pathology, (1969), and the resultant libel suit with William F. Buckley; The Crucifixion of the Jews (1975); and Hyping the Holocaust: Scholars Answer Goldhagen (1997). Following those files are several files associated with incomplete or unidentified research projects. For each book project, files contain a mix of correspondence, royalty statements, occasional notes and manuscript fragments, and other records related to research and production. None of the projects are extensively documented and the quantity of records available for each varies widely. Following the records of his book length projects are files pertaining to chapters, introductions or other contributions to edited volumes or books. Often containing a copy of the chapter and related correspondence, these files are also arranged in order of publication.

The last groups of records housed in 12.1 are three groups of correspondence. First, there is general correspondence with publishers and other individuals, arranged chronologically. Next are several files of correspondence with Clement Alexandre, a publishing house representative who worked with Littell on several projects from at least 1959 to 1962 (there is additional correspondence with Alexandre in Series 1: General correspondence). Lastly are files of correspondence with specific publishers or journals, arranged in alphabetical order by publisher name.

Subseries 12.2: Published articles and book reviews, 1937-2004, contains a run of most, if not all, of Littell’s published articles from 1937 to 2004. These include articles published in scholarly journals, newsletters, as well as newspapers and magazines. Following are several files of book reviews authored by Littell, arranged alphabetically by the book author. Both the published articles and book reviews are represented by a mix of tear sheets, reprints and photocopies.

Subseries 12.3: Early Warning System, 1971-2006, documents Littell’s “Early Warning System” (EWS), first introduced in 1969 in Wild Tongues. The EWS was a multi-point grid designed to identify potentially genocidal movements or governments, which Littell refined over several decades. Researchers interested in tracking the evolution of this program can review several versions of the EWS and related correspondence dating from 1971 to 2006.

Subseries 12.4: “Lest We Forget,” 1978-2002, contains records related to Littell’s syndicated newspaper column, in which he  wrote commentary on issues related to the Holocaust and genocide, State of Israel, and a host of other contemporary political and social issues. The columns were regularly published in dozens of newspapers nationwide, including Detroit Jewish News (Detroit, MI), American Jewish World (Minneapolis, MN), the Jewish Ledger (Rochester, NY) and the Jewish Times of the Greater Northeast (Philadelphia, PA). There are manuscript versions of the column, arranged in two sets, one chronological and the other by subject, dating from 1978 to 2002; and clippings or photocopies of clippings of “Lest We Forget” from the above listed newspapers. In 1995, Littell created a subject index for the manuscript versions of the column. He assigned each one a number (approximate number ranges are provided in the folder title) that correlates to an alphabetical list of subjects on which he wrote. Be aware, that the manuscripts are arranged in chronological order—not in order of their assigned number. While the column numbers were generally assigned in chronological order, there is some variation, so the number ranges provided in folder titles may not be wholly accurate.

Subseries 12.5: Speeches, lectures and article manuscripts, 1938-2006, (digitized), contains Littell’s speeches and lectures, as well as occasional article manuscripts. A noted expert in several fields, Littell was frequently invited to address a wide variety of audiences all over the world. He spoke on many topics, most especially: the German Church Struggle and the Holocaust, religious liberty, new religious movements, the Methodist youth movement and peace and pacifism, political extremism, Methodism, and the Anabaptist tradition. The speeches, lectures and manuscripts are arranged in chronological order of the date delivered or published. Many have been digitized and are available on the Libraries’ website: http://digital.library.temple.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16002coll14. Researchers should also consider perusing: Subseries 13.2: Speaking engagement fliers and other advertisements.

Subseries 12.6: Manuscript fragments and loose notes, circa 1950-2000 (bulk undated), contains copious loose pages from notepads and assorted scraps of paper offering notations on any and all areas of Littell’s interests and involvement, including research and reading notes, as well as notes taken during conferences and meetings. Researchers are warned that Littell’s handwriting is difficult to read, though not illegible, and because of the miscellaneous and mixed nature of the series’ organization, only the most diligent researcher is likely to benefit from use of these materials.

Series 13: “Journal” file, 1930-2008, houses four chronologically arranged files that were created and maintained by Littell: Subseries 13.1: General journal; Subseries 13.2: Speaking engagement fliers and other advertisements; Subseries 13.3: Clippings (featuring Franklin H. Littell and/or his work); Subseries 13.4: Press releases.

Subseries 13.1: General journal, 1936-2008, contains what Littell called his “Journal” file, indicated by a “J” or the word “Journal” on many original folders and/or papers. Begun around 1936, this was different from a traditional diary, being a set of chronologically arranged files that house both original and carbon or photocopies of occasional journal or diary entries; writings; documents and correspondence of particular importance; papers relating to conferences and meetings he planned, attended or at which he spoke; travel documents; notes and newspaper clippings; as well as a variety of ephemera and other records related to his life and work.

For each year, there are typically general files, housing a mix of materials relating to numerous events and projects throughout the year. These events are usually sparsely documented. Following, there are a series of files pertaining specifically to single events, conferences or projects. These files usually contain more robust documentation by comparison, but few should be considered extensively documented. Note that the date of each file corresponds to the date of the event or project and does not necessarily reflect the dates of all the documents found in the folder.

There are several notable files in this series. Files from the 1930s and 1940s, when Littell was a student and active in the National Council of Methodist Youth and the peace movement are particularly worthwhile. There are two excellent files from 1965, when Littell was targeted by key leaders of the radical right, especially Billy James Hargis and members of the John Birch Society, who claimed that Littell was a politically dangerous man and a communist. The general file from 1987 houses an original copy of the 1939 photograph of Littell confronting an SS officer in Germany. This famous image, taken during his European tour in 1939, was given to Littell by his friend, Herman Will in 1987. Also of note is a transcript from a 2005 oral history interview with Littell.

While this file system was maintained throughout his entire life, it does not offer a complete accounting of his every day to day. It is not always clear why Littell included the records he did, and some years are better represented than others. It is recommended that researchers consider this series in all inquiries; however, only after consultation of other more defined groups of records.

Note to researchers: During processing many records were removed from the “Journal” file and interfiled into other parts of the collection to accommodate research and eliminate duplication. For example, Littell meticulously kept copies of his many speeches, addresses and other writings. He filed these in several ways, including in his “Journal” file, resulting in many copies of each scattered throughout the collection. Typescripts of most of his speeches and writings were removed from this series (and others) to be filed in subseries 12.5: Speeches, lectures and article manuscripts.

Subseries 13.2: Speaking engagement fliers and other advertisements, 1937-2006, houses chronologically arranged files of fliers and advertisements for Littell’s many speaking and other engagements. See also Subseries 12.5: Speeches, lectures and article manuscripts.

Subseries 13.3: Clippings (featuring Franklin H. Littell and/or his work), 1942-2007, houses chronologically arranged newspaper and magazine clippings in which Littell or his work are featured.

Subseries 13.4: Press releases, 1949-1993, contains a small file of chronologically arranged press releases, pertaining to many areas of Littell’s life and concerns.

Series 14: Personal and family papers (Portions restricted), 1859-2010 (bulk 1934-2000), houses an assortment of correspondence and other records relating to Littell’s personal life, especially his education and his family. Of note, are a collection of journal and diary fragments, and autobiographical vignettes, as well as correspondence with his parents, siblings and his first wife, Harriet.

Restricted materials in this series are closed for research for fifty or seventy-five years from the date of creation. Please refer to the subseries’ descriptions and folder lists for more information.

Subseries 14.1: Education, 1934-2007 (bulk 1934-1949), contains records documenting Franklin Littell’s education, including his time at Cornell College, Union Theological Seminary and Yale University, as well as post baccalaureate communications with those schools.

Subseries 14.2: Franklin H. Littell personal papers (Portions restricted), 1917-2010, provides access to files about awards and honorary degrees received; autobiographical notes and passages; childhood keepsakes; miscellaneous financial records; journal or diary entries and fragments; birthday and Christmas cards; and a host of other miscellaneous personal effects and keepsakes. Copies of Littell’s obituaries and memorials, as well as condolence letters received by Marcia Sachs Littell when he died in 2009 are also filed here.

Restricted materials in this subseries are closed for research for seventy-five years from the date of creation. Please refer to folder list for more information.

Subseries 14.3: Family correspondence, (Portions restricted), 1930-2008,  documents Littell’s efforts to maintain contact with his parents, siblings and other family members, as well as his wife, Harriet, and their children during times of separation. Littell left his home town of Mount Vernon, Iowa when he was twenty years old and he spent most of his adult life travelling from one opportunity to another throughout the United States and abroad. The Littells wrote letters to each other that chronicled their lives, touching on everything from their professions, to their opinions and/or participation in social and political movements or ideas, to the mundane details of daily life. Letters between the different family members are comingled and arranged in chronological order. Letters between Franklin and Harriet Littell and their four children are maintained separately.

Restricted materials in this subseries are closed for research for fifty or seventy-five years from the date of creation. Please refer to the folder list for more information.

Subseries 14.4: Harriet Lewis Littell papers, 1917-1979 (bulk 1934-1970), (Portions restricted), contains a small body of personal papers relating specifically to Harriet Lewis Littell, her life and work. Researchers will find correspondence, journal fragments, examples of her school work, newspaper clippings about her as well as topics in which she was interested, and collected ephemera and other keepsakes. Additionally, researchers will find Harriet’s obituary, as well as the condolence letters that Franklin Littell received when she died in 1978.

Restricted materials in this subseries are closed for research for fifty years from the date of creation. Please refer to the folder list for more information.

Subseries 14.5: Marcia Sachs Littell papers, 1973-2008, (Portions restricted), primarily consists of book reviews, correspondence, miscellaneous records relating to her own education, and teaching materials. Of note, are several files regarding her work to establish the Masters in Holocaust and Genocide Studies program at Stockton and other universities.

Restricted materials in this subseries are closed for research for fifty years from the date of creation. Please refer to the folder list for more information.

Subseries 14.6: Portraits and snapshots, 1918-2009, includes a small group of miscellaneous photographs, the portraits and snapshots are primarily images of Franklin Littell, spanning his entire life. Many of the images are unidentified and undated. Please review the folder list for more information. Note to researchers: A large number of family photographs remain in the possession of the Littell family.

Subseries 14.7: Family papers, 1859-1966 (bulk undated), (Protions restricted), houses miscellaneous records by or about various family members, arranged alphabetically by name. Of note is a copy of the autobiography of Clair Frances Littell, Franklin Littell’s father.

Restricted materials in this subseries are closed for research for seventy-five years from the date of creation. Please refer to the folder list for more information.

Series 15: General reference, 1863-2006 (bulk 1940-1990), offers a wide array of reference materials mostly relating to Littell’s major areas of interest: Anabaptism; new religious movements; cults and sects; State of Israel and the middle east; religion and religious liberty; reformation; education, especially religion in higher and public education; interfaith work; the laity; and a host of other topics. A mixing of primary and secondary source materials, the reference files house a variety of collected papers that include printed materials and ephemera, newspaper and magazine clippings, periodicals, publications and published articles, article manuscripts and occasional student work, as well as Littell’s personal notes and other writings, all organized loosely by subject, creator and/or creative body.

Interested researchers should note that subject areas and date spans often overlap, resulting in the possibility that related materials are filed under more than one subject heading. Additionally, though most have been vetted and filed elsewhere, there may be records interspersed in the reference files that pertain to organizations and/or projects in which Littell was directly involved; appropriate general subject headings should be consulted. While instances of Littell’s reading notes and other writings on particular topics or people can be found in the reference files, there are other examples in Series 12: Research, writing and speaking. Series 15 has been organized into two subseries: Subseries 15.1: Reference file 1, and 15.2: Reference file 2. Reference materials relating to his study of and work to memorialize the Holocaust are extensive and are filed in Series 5.

Subseries 15.1: Reference file 1, 1863-1999 (bulk 1940-1979), represents a distinct file assembled and maintained by Littell primarily from the 1940s to 1970s.

Subseries 15.2: Reference file 2, 1930-2006 (bulk 1940-1990), spans a wider time frame than 15.1, and combines numerous alphabetically arranged reference/subject files that were identified in the collection. Reference file 2 also absorbed copious loose, unsorted and otherwise unattributed materials that were uncovered during processing.

Series 16: Periodicals, circa 1900s-2000s
Processing of periodicals found in the Franklin H. Littell Papers is underway.  Information about their content will be added to the finding aid shortly. In the interim, please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.

Patron Information

Alternate Form Available
Some materials in Subseries 2.1: National Council of Methodist Youth, and the majority of Subseries 12.5: Speeches, lectures, and article manuscripts, have been digitized and are available on the Libraries’ website:
http://digital.library.temple.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16002coll14

Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Temple University’s online library catalog: http://diamond.temple.edu/record=b5769203~S12

Research Access
Collection is open for research. There are materials in Subseries 4.7: Stockton College, Subseries 4.9: Student records, Subseries 14.2: Franklin H. Littell personal papers, Subseries 14.3: Family correspondence, Subseries 14.4: Harriet Lewis Littell papers, Subseries 14.5: Marcia Sachs Littell papers, and Subseries 14.7: Family papers that are restricted for fifty or seventy-five years from the date of their creation. Please refer to the folder lists for those subseries for more information.

Condition Note
Collection was treated for mold during processing and boxes have been marked; precautions will be offered at time of access.

Collections Stored Off-Site
This collection may be housed off-site at the Library Depository, and require up to two business days to retrieve. Please review the finding aid and be prepared to identify specific materials to be retrieved. Contact the Special Collections Research Center in advance of your visit, so that materials may be relocated to the reading room for research.

Technical Access
Original audiovisual materials, as well as preservation and duplicating masters, may not be played. Researchers must consult use copies, or if none exist must pay for a use copy. Certain digital files may also be inaccessible. Please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.

Accruals
Additions to this collection are expected. For information on material that may have been added since the last finding aid update, please contact the Special Collections Research Center.

Publication and Copyright Information
The Franklin H. Littell papers are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. Temple University holds intellectual property rights only for material donated to the university with such rights specifically assigned. For all other material, intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.

Preferred Citation
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Franklin H. Littell Papers, SCRC 85, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Related Material
Special Collections Research Center:
Emily Brookes Reference Files on Political Extremism, SCRC 78
Ewart Turner Papers, SCRC 81
Franklin and Marcia Sachs Littell Collection of published materials

Other Institutions:
Reinhold Niebuhr Papers, 1907-1997, Library of Congress
United Methodist Archives Center, Drew University

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information
Donated by Marcia Sachs Littell, 2010         

Processing Information
Collection processed and finding aid prepared in August 2014 by Courtney Smerz, Project Archivist, Franklin H. Littell Papers Processing Project, with assistance from Erin Deford, Amanda Mita, and Evan Peugh, project interns, and James Panacio, Andrew Greer, Patrick Stalter, and Meredith Thomas, student workers.

The Emily Brookes papers and the Ewart E. Turner papers were included in the Littell’s initial donation, due to Brooks’ and Turner’s widow’s transfer of them to Franklin Littell.  Those collections have been removed and processed separately.

The Franklin and Marcia Sachs Littell Collection of published materials has been cataloged separately and are housed either in a book collection in SCRC or added individually to the main library collection. Individual records for books can be found in Diamond, Temple University’s online library catalog: http://diamond.temple.edu/

Processing of the small amount of digital materials in the Franklin H. Littell Papers is underway.  These materials primarily relate to Subseries 5.1: Annual Scholars Conference. Information about their content will be added to the finding aid shortly. In the interim, please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.

Processing of periodicals found in the Franklin H. Littell Papers is underway.  Information about their content will be added to the finding aid shortly. In the interim, please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.


Index Terms

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in Temple University’s electronic catalog:

Personal/Family Names:
Bainton, Roland Herbert, 1894-1984
Baker, Charles R.
Bauer, Yehuda
Bender, Harold Stauffer, 1897-1962
Benz, Ernst, 1907-1978
Cargas, Harry J.
Conway, John S.
Eckardt, A. Roy (Arthur Roy), 1918-
Jentzsch, Heber, 1935-
Knudsen, Knud
Latourette, Kenneth, 1884-1968
Legters, Lyman Howard, 1928-
Littell, Franklin H. (Franklin Hamlin), 1917-2009
Littell, Marcia Sachs
Locke, Hubert G.
Maxwell, Elisabeth
Niebuhr, Reinhold, 1892-1971

Corporate Names:
American Academy of Religion
American Conference on Religious Movements
Annual Scholars’ Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches
Association of College and University Religious Affairs
Boston University
Candler School of Theology
Chicago Theological Seminary
Christians Concerned for Israel
Church of Scientology International
Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag
Ecumenical Association of Academies and Laity Centers in Europe
Evangelische Akademie
Evangelische Akademie Bad Boll
Foundation for Reformation Research
Germany (Territory under Allied occupation, 1945-1955 : U.S. Zone). Office of Military Government
Institute for American Democracy
Institute for Contemporary Social Problems
Iowa Wesleyan College
Methodist Federation for Social Action (U.S.)
National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel
National Conference of Christians and Jews
National Council of Methodist Youth
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
Perkins School of Theology
Philadelphia Center on the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights
Philadelphia Coordinating Council on the Holocaust
Remembering for the Future
Remembering for the future 2000 (2000: Oxford, England)
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Temple University
Temple University. Department of Religion
Unification Church
United Methodist Church (U.S.). Board of Christian Social Concerns
United States Holocaust Memorial Council
World Council of Churches
Yad ṿa-shem, rashut ha-zikaron la-Shoʼah ṿela-gevurah
Youth Committee Against War

Subjects:
Ecumenical movement
Education
Education. Higher
Extremists
Freedom of religion
Holocaust
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Remembrance
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Research
Interfaith dialogue
Laity
Methodism
New religious movements
Peace movement in America
Peace movements--United States--History
Radicals
Waco Branch Davidian Disaster, Tex., 1993

Places:
Germany
Philadelphia (Pa.)

Material Types:
Administrative records
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