Hall, Katie, 1938-2012

<p>Katie Beatrice Hall (April 3, 1938 – February 20, 2012) was an American educator in Gary, Indiana, and a politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1982 to 1985. When Hall was sworn into federal office on November 2, 1982, she became the first black woman from Indiana elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Hall represented Indiana's 1st Congressional District in the final months the 97th Congress and an entire two-year term in the 98th Congress from 1983 to 1985. She is best known for sponsoring legislation and leading efforts on the floor of the U.S. House in 1983 to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a national holiday after previous efforts had failed. H.R. 3706 to establish the third Monday in January as a federal holiday in King's honor was introduced in July 1983 and passed in the House on August 2, 1983. President Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law on November 2, 1983.</p>

<p>Prior to her election to the U.S. House, Hall served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 1974 to 1976 and as a member of the Indiana Senate from 1976 to 1982. She was also a delegate to the Democratic Mini Convention in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1978; chairperson of the Lake County, Indiana, Democratic Committee from 1978 to 1980; and chairperson of the Indiana State Democratic convention in 1980. Hall was defeated in her bid for reelection to the U.S. Congress in the Democratic primary May 1984, narrowly losing to Peter Visclosky by 2,367 votes. She also lost two subsequent efforts against Visclosky in 1986 and 1990 to recapture Indiana's 1st District seat in the U.S. House. After serving in Congress, Hall was vice chairperson of the Gary Housing Board of Commissioners. In 1985 she became the city clerk of Gary; however, she resigned the position in January 2003 after signing a plea agreement related to mail fraud. Hall was subsequently sentenced to house arrest and probation. She retired from teaching in the Gary public schools in 2004.</p>

HALL, Katie Beatrice, a Representative from Indiana; born Katie Beatrice Green in Mound Bayou, Bolivar County, Miss., April 3, 1938; attended public schools of Mound Bayou, Miss.; B.S., Mississippi Valley State University, Itta Bena, Miss., 1960; M.S., Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind., 1968; teacher; member of the Indiana house of representatives, 1974-1976; member of the Indiana state senate, 1976-1982; delegate, Democratic Mini Convention, Memphis, Tenn., 1978; chair, Indiana State Democratic convention, 1980; elected simultaneously as a Democrat on the Ninety-seventh Congress and to the Ninety-eighth Congress by special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative Adam Benjamin (November 2, 1982-January 3, 1985); unsuccessful candidate for renomination to the Ninety-ninth Congress in 1984; vice chair, Gary, Ind., Housing Board Commissioners; city clerk, Gary, Ind., 1985-1993; unsuccessful candidate for nomination to the One Hundred Second Congress in 1990; died on February 20, 2012, in Gary, Ind.

<p>Unable to exercise her constitutional right to vote before the civil rights era and subject to segregation laws, Katie Beatrice Hall felt trapped in her tiny southern hometown until she heard speeches by African-American Representatives Adam Clayton Powell Jr. of New York and William Levi Dawson of Illinois that led her to believe she could obtain a quality education and a better life outside Mississippi. Hall eventually sought public office and became the first African American from Indiana to serve in the United States House of Representatives. Among her chief accomplishments was piloting a bill through Congress to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday.</p>

<p>On April 3, 1938, Katie Beatrice Green was born to Jeff and Bessie Mae Hooper Green, in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. One of 12 children, Katie attended the public schools in Mound Bayou and received a BS from Mississippi Valley State University in 1960. During her junior year of college, in 1957, she married John H. Hall. The couple had three children: Jacqueline, Junifer, and Michelle. In 1968 Katie Hall received an MS from Indiana University in Bloomington. She subsequently taught social studies in Gary, Indiana, an industrial city on the south shore of Lake Michigan. Hall’s early political involvement included campaigning for Richard Hatcher, an African-American lawyer running for mayor of Gary. This experience encouraged her to enter electoral politics herself. Hall ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Indiana state house of representatives in 1972 but won a seat in 1974. Two years later, Hall was elected to the state senate, where she served from 1976 until 1982. She also served as the chairwoman of the Lake County Democratic Committee from 1978 to 1980 and chaired the 1980 Indiana Democratic convention.</p>

<p>In September of 1982, Indiana Democratic Representative Adam Benjamin Jr. died suddenly of a heart attack. Katie Hall attended a public forum a week after the Representative’s death to discuss a possible successor and was surprised to hear her name mentioned, although her aspiration to national office was not new. “I had always thought about running for Congress,” she admitted, but refrained because “I saw Adam as a very highly respected Congressman who did the job very well. I saw him as a person who was undefeatable.” Patricia Benjamin, the Representative’s widow, also expressed interest in succeeding her husband. Under Indiana law, the chairman of the district’s Democratic committee selected the nominee to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the 97th Congress (1981–1983). Then-chairman Richard Hatcher, whom Hall considered her political mentor, remembered Hall’s support for his mayoral campaigns. He selected Hall to run for the vacant seat that represented the northwest corner of the state, anchored by Gary. At the same time, the committee nominated Hall—with Hatcher casting the deciding vote—for a full term in the 98th Congress (1983–1985) to represent a newly reapportioned district. The district’s boundaries remained relatively unchanged after the reapportionment, and white northern Indiana Democrats expressed concern over Hall’s nomination to the safe Democratic seat because of her race. Although downtown Gary was primarily Black, the racial composition of the entire district was 70 percent white. A legal battle ensued when Patricia Benjamin’s supporters claimed that, as chairman of the old district, Hatcher did not have the right to select a candidate for the new district. The courts refused to overturn Hatcher’s decision. Hall’s nomination as the Democratic nominee for both the vacancy and the full term was tantamount to election in the working-class, Democratic district and she defeated her Republican opponent, Thomas Krieger, with 63 percent to win election to the remainder of the 97th Congress. She simultaneously won election with 56 percent of the vote for the 98th Congress. Upon her election, Hall became the first Black woman from Indiana to serve in the U.S. Congress.</p>