Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Resident in China from Farwell, Michigan; papers concern her family life in Farwell, and missionary activities; include letters, diaries, and accounts of father, Josiah L. Littlefield, Farwell lumber dealer and visitor to China, 1916-1917; letters, 1918-1928, of husband, Dr. Dennis V. Smith, medical missionary to China, describing in part Chinese politics and civil war, 1918-1920; letters and other papers of Hazel Littlefield Smith, including materials concerning various European travels, and manuscripts of writings about Irish author Lord Dunsany, her father, and Farwell, Michigan; and photographs. Other correspondents of Hazel Smith include world-renowed scientists (Edwin Hubble and William Beebe), from Chinese Princess Der Ling, and from distinguished European writers and actors (Pierre LaMure, Selma Lagerlof, Brian Aherne, and Ronald Colman).

This collection was accumulated by Hazel Littlefield Smith and consists of materials concerning her career and interests and those of her family, specifically her husband, Dr. Dennis Smith, and her father, Josiah Littlefield (1845-1935), a pioneer lumberman and businessman in Farwell, Michigan.

The collection is particularly valuable for three topics: early days (late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) in Farwell, Michigan; missionary life in China in the period ca. 1915-1928; and the travels and writings of Hazel Littlefield Smith. The materials include correspondence, compositions and business-related materials of Josiah Littlefield; correspondence and other materials of Dr. Dennis Smith, Hazel Littlefield Smith (and Josiah Littlefield) concerning conditions in early republican China; and correspondence and other materials of Hazel Littlefield Smith concerning her travels in Europe (1920s-1950s), her management of the family farm near Farwell, Michigan (1940s), and her essays, poetry and other publications, including Lord Dunsany: King of Dreams.

The three principal figures in the collection--Hazel Littlefield Smith, Dennis Smith and Josiah Littlefield--were highly perceptive observers of persons and events. Their letters are rich in detail, whether describing travel experiences or everyday life in rural northern Michigan.

The collection is arranged into six series: Littlefield Family, China-related materials, Hazel Littlefield Smith, Miscellanea, Dr. Dennis V. Smith, and Visual Materials.

Professor of law at the University of Michigan; papers contain correspondence, teaching materials, papers relating to student discipline, proceedings of the University Judicial Council, 1950-1953; also research files and collected material relating to his study of Michigan's territorial court system; and copies of court records for Brown County, 1830s; also Wayne County Probate Court records, 1811-1825.

The William Wirt Blume papers include a memoir of his 192-1921 trip to China, a chronological correspondence file, teaching materials and other files related to his career at the University of Michigan, several reports on legal issues and research notes and files for his history of Michigan Territorial Supreme Court. The papers are arrange in five series: Travel, Correspondence, University of Michigan, Reports, and Notes and Research Material on Territorial Courts.

The series Notes and Research Material on Territorial Courts (boxes 6-18) contains Blume's notes and collected research materials relating to his study of U.S. territorial law and territorial court systems. Much of the emphasis of Blume's study concerned the Michigan Territorial Supreme Court and the various county and circuit courts under it. The researcher is directed to the Michigan Supreme Court record group for the original documents that Blume and his staff studied. This record group was transferred to the State Archives of Michigan in 2011. The researcher should also note that Blume's Transactions of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Michigan, with its extensive notes and historical commentaries is a superb introduction to Blume's career interests.