Jacques Littlefield
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{short description|American collector (1949–2009)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jacques Littlefield
| image = Jacques Littlefield 2004.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date|1949|11|21|mf=y}}
| birth_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|01|07|1949|11|21|mf=y}}
| death_place = Portola Valley, California, U.S.
| occupation = Military vehicle collector, philanthropist, engineer
}}
Jacques Littlefield (November 21, 1949 – January 7, 2009) was the founder of the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation (MVTF), also called the Littlefield collection.
Collection
Jacques Littlefield collected many vintage military vehicles including a Panther tank, several M4 Sherman tanks, a SS-1 Scud launcher, and a propeller of the ship Lusitania.{{Cite web |title=Littlefield Tank Tour |url=https://sfahistory.org/tanktour.htm |access-date=June 25, 2022 |website=sfahistory.org}} He had over 220 military vehicles to his name.
Biography
File:Jacques Littlefield Pony Tracks Ranch.jpg, May 2004.]]
Littlefield was born on November 21, 1949, in San Francisco, California. He was the son of Edmund Wattis Littlefield and Jeannik Méquet Littlefield. His father was CEO of Utah Construction Company, his mother is a strong supporter of the arts and a member of the Chairman's Council of the San Francisco Opera.{{cite news| url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/04/MNGI9LHUQT1.DTL&type=performance | work=The San Francisco Chronicle | title=S.F. Opera patron donates $35 million / Largest gift of its kind in the U.S. -- no strings attached | first=Joshua | last=Kosman | date=October 4, 2006}}
Littlefield's fascination with military vehicles started as a child, when he started building plastic models of them. In college he built his first remote control scale model tank. He obtained his first full-size military vehicle in 1975, a World War II era M3 Scout Car. In 1998 he set up the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation to manage his collection of over 150 vehicles and restore more.
He grew up in Burlingame and attended Norma Moore Grade School in Burlingame, the Carey School in San Mateo, and the Cate School in Carpinteria before studying at Stanford University, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1971 and an MBA two years later. He worked for Hewlett Packard for five years as a manufacturing engineer before focusing solely on building his museum and restoration facility.
Littlefield served on the boards of the General George Patton Museum, the Cate School, the Coyote Point Museum for Environmental Education, the Hoover Institution, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Filoli Center. He was a member of the Bohemian Club where he was a Captain of the Sempervirens camp.{{cite web |url=http://www.almanacnews.com/news/show_story.php?id=3100 |title=Military tank collector dies at 59 |author= |date=January 15, 2009 |website=almanacnews.com |publisher=The Almanac |access-date=April 29, 2015 |archive-date=February 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214190354/http://www.almanacnews.com/news/show_story.php?id=3100 |url-status=dead }}
Following a decade-long battle with colon cancer, Littlefield died on January 7, 2009.
On July 11 and 12, 2014, 160 vehicles of the Littlefield collection were auctioned off to fund the creation of a new museum to display the collection.{{cite web|last=Rong|first=Blake|url=http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140228/CARNEWS01/140229813|title=Tank auction! Littlefield military vehicle collection to cross the block|publisher=Autoweek|date=February 28, 2014|access-date=March 1, 2014}} The American Heritage Museum at the Collings Foundation headquarters in Stow, Massachusetts, had its grand opening in May 2019 and displays over 85 vehicles of the Littlefield collection.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegram.com/news/20190502/american-heritage-museum-celebrates-grand-opening |title=American Heritage Museum celebrates grand opening |author=Jonathan Phelps |date= May 2, 2019 |newspaper=Worcester Telegram |access-date=May 5, 2019}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite news
| last = Brown
| first = Patricia Leigh
| title = DRIVING; To the Collector, The Spoils
| work = New York Times
| date = November 28, 2003
| url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE2DB173AF93BA15752C1A9659C8B63
| access-date = January 13, 2009}}
- {{cite news
| last = Goldman
| first = Jim
| title = Tanks for the Memories: Jacques Littlefield Passes Away
| work = Tech News, CNBC
| date = January 13, 2009
| url = https://www.cnbc.com/id/28640358
| access-date = January 22, 2009}}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
- {{cite news
| last = Jones
| first = Carolyn
| title = Jacques Littlefield, tank collector, dies
| work = San Francisco Chronicle
| pages = B-5
| date = January 13, 2009
| url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/13/BAHA157UND.DTL&tsp=1
| access-date = January 13, 2009}}
- {{cite news
|last=Miller |first=Stephen
|title=Jacques Littlefield, 1949-2009: For Big Collector of Tanks, Panzer Was Last Hurrah
|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123395854437558427
|work=Wall Street Journal
|date=February 7, 2009 |page=A8
|access-date = May 5, 2009}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100109100559/http://www.milvehtechfound.com/ Military Vehicle Technology Foundation] (archive.org)
- [http://www.almanacnews.com/news/show_story.php?id=3100 The Almanac: Military tank collector dies at 59] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214190354/http://www.almanacnews.com/news/show_story.php?id=3100 |date=February 14, 2012 }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Littlefield, Jacques}}
Category:People from San Francisco
Category:People from Burlingame, California
Category:Stanford University alumni
Category:Hewlett-Packard people
Category:Hoover Institution people
Category:People associated with the California Academy of Sciences