From the 1930s to the 1960s, Karl S. Little served as the primary champion of the credit union movement in Utah. Because of his efforts, he is affectionately referred to as, “Utah’s Mr. Credit Union.”
The title is well deserved as he served for almost 30 years organizing more than 200 credit unions in Utah. Among those he helped to organize was the Utah Poultry Producers Council Credit Union, which Little said “was organized while we sat around on grain-filled gunny sacks during a lunch period, and in one-half hour had the organization ready to roll.”
Little’s interest and efforts to advance the credit union movement came from his own experience “getting taken” by loan sharks. When he moved to Utah with his wife in 1918, times weren’t easy, and getting established was an expensive business for a young couple starting a family. He borrowed $200 from a “gentleman”, but after making payments for a year and still owing the original $200, he realized he was being swindled. Laws to regulate interest didn’t exist, and loan sharks preyed upon the young, uninformed, and unsuspecting. This experience caused him to search for a more equitable borrowing process for himself and others.
Little was driven by his belief that credit unions create an option for those who usually resorted to loan sharks for credit. He loved that credit unions provided two essential services:
Those may sound basic today, in the 2020s, but in the 1930s the average person often struggled to find reliable sources for saving and borrowing.
Karl said:
What I want to result from my own efforts is for people to say, when I am old and in a wheel chair, ‘That is Karl, he organized my credit union. He helped eliminate crooks and loan sharks in Utah. He made me, a little man, feel important and gave me the confidence to manage my own financial affairs. He worked for me because he believed in me.’
His efforts also included serving as the first managing director of the Utah State Credit Union League in 1935. He served in that capacity until the mid 1960s.
Built upon Little’s beliefs, The Karl S. Little Foundation was established to continue Little’s vision and provide scholarships for students to be able to attend the Western CUNA Management School, which prepares future professionals to keep up with the always-changing business environment.
Karl’s ideals and philosophy still affect credit unions today, and are realized more fully than ever as credit unions have evolved to provide modern financial services to a majority of Utahns. No doubt Karl Little’s name will go down in credit union history for outstanding service.
All information in this article comes from Karle S. Little, by Louis S. Leatham. Salt Lake City, Utah Credit Union League, Inc., 1963