Philanthropist
Littlefield was appointed to the Board of Regents of the University of Texas in 1911, and his largess to the school in the following nine years became legendary.
Littlefield gave and bequeathed some $3 million to the university—more than any other individual during the first fifty years of its existence. As a result of his philanthropy, Littlefield's name is visibly entwined with many aspects of university life. In 1914 Littlefield, feeling the university's textbooks were too Northern-focused, established the "Littlefield Fund for Southern History" to amass the archival sources from which more accurate history could be written; many Southern-themed books in circulation at the university's libraries today are stamped with his name as a result. In 1917, when Governor James E. Ferguson vetoed appropriations for the University in the state budget, Littlefield offered to personally fund its operations for the biennial period.
Littlefield paid for a prominent and well-recognized fountain on campus, the Littlefield Fountain, which was established as a war memorial. He also bankrolled the construction of one of the university's dorms, named Alice P. Littlefield Dormitory after his wife. He stipulated that it should be used specifically for freshman women.
He willed his house to the university, which today uses it for offices and special events.
Read more about this topic: George W. Littlefield