Hall, Bob, 1944-

Bob Hall (1944-), a central figure in progressive politics and activism in North Carolina since the early 1970s, is best known for his investigative research work with the Institute for Southern Studies (ISS), for founding Democracy North Carolina, and for his role in several landmark legal cases on voting rights in North Carolina.

Hall became active in the civil rights movement in 1964-1965, participating in the "kneel in" campaign to integrate churches in Memphis, Tennessee. He attended Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC) events in 1965-1966, participated in anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in Washington, D.C. and New York City (1966-1972), participated in the Columbia University "rebellion" in 1968, and attended protests at the Republican and Democratic Party conventions in 1968. Hall also worked on a South Africa disinvestment campaign (1969-1970) through the National Council of Churches.

In 1970, Hall moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and joined the newly formed Institute for Southern Studies (ISS), a progressive nonprofit research and media center dedicated to economic and social justice issues in the South. Early work in Atlanta included a research study of the city's power structure, research and writing on Coca-Cola and other corporations, and several projects relating to electric utilities. In 1973, Hall co-founded and served as managing editor for ISS's magazine, Southern Exposure.

In 1973, Hall moved to Chapel Hill, N.C., where he organized and co-led the Duke Power Project in North Carolina to challenge the utility company's rate hike and to support striking miners at Duke's Eastover Mine in Harlan County, Ky. Hall was involved in the corporate campaign against J.P. Stevens & Co. (1974-1980), which culminated in a boycott led by the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. In 1975, ISS launched two new projects that would later become independent organizations: the North Carolina Brown Lung Association and Southerners for Economic Justice.

Through the late 1970s and early 1980s, Hall led or played a major role in initiatives addressing the death penalty, education in the South, the Greensboro Massacre, the Voting Rights Act, workplace safety, grassroots organizing, and campaign finance. From 1983 to 1988, Hall conducted a statewide research study of land ownership in North Carolina, which produced the book Who Owns North Carolina?. In the late 1980s, Hall researched and published on the bailout of the savings and loans industry, military bases in the South, voter registration and turnout for the 1988 presidential election, discriminatory banking practices ("redlining"), worker health and safety in the poultry industry in North Carolina, and environmental issues. He co-authored The 1991-1992 Green Index: A State-by-State Guide to the Nation’s Environmental Health (Island Press).

In 1991, Hall began the North Carolina Money & Politics Project to analyze $10 million spent by lobbyists during an effort to reform the state legislature in North Carolina. This project spun off and launched the NC Alliance for Democracy and, in 1995, Democracy South (which would eventually become Democracy North Carolina). In the early 1990s, Hall was involved in several efforts to shed light on "patronage appointments" to the North Carolina Board of Transportation. The effort also involved a grassroots campaign to fight the construction of a highway through Craven County, N.C.

Throughout the 1990s, Hall continued to lead projects around North Carolina politics and elections, including research and analysis on top campaign donors in the state, lobbying expenses of North Carolina banks, the role of political action committees (PACs), campaign contributions from donors in the North Carolina hog industry, political contributions to influence legislation affecting the nursing home industry, reforms to the state’s campaign disclosure laws, and publicly-financed elections.

Bob Hall received a MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" in 1992. He continued to work with the Institute for Southern Studies until 1995.