Gilbert Luck's Joseph Pritchard Little Photograph Collection, c1880-c1979

Joseph Pritchard Little was born on July 16, 1919, in Central, South Carolina, to Boyd William (1880-1940) and Pearl Pritchard Little (1889-1976). In 1921, the family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Boyd was employed as an electrical engineer with Duke Power. Joseph (Joe) attended several Charlotte schools, and graduated from Central High School in 1937. He had begun playing flute and piccolo in the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in 1934. Following his graduation, Little attended Duke University, following in his father’s footsteps by majoring in electrical engineering. He returned to Charlotte in 1939, having decided not to pursue this as a career. Little would go on to work as a radar technician during World War II, however.

In 1945, Little partnered with Otto Schuster to operate a radio and record store that eventually became known as the Joe Little Hi-Fi Center. A few years later in 1948, he married Peggy Anne Biggers. In 1964, Joe Little and Irene Maddox, who together formed the flute section of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, began the Charlotte Flute Association. Little went on to play with the Charlotte Symphony for 55 years, retiring in 1989, and continued operating the Joe Little Hi-Fi Center until his retirement in 1996. His wife, Peggy, passed away in 2000, and Little was remarried to Joyce Gasque Carmichael in 2003. Joe Little died on October 13, 2012 in Charlotte, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery.