My great-grandfather, Reverend Mansel Phillip Hall, who lived shortly after freedom from slavery, was a Mason. And many members of our family in the subsequent generation were also Masons. My great- grandfather was a very active Mason and he was, he was very much involved in helping people enslaved people escape bondage and organized assistance for them after slavery. He was the founder and president of Friendship College in Rock Hill, South Carolina. I mentioned that in case someone [on the call is] from that area, they would know what I'm talking about. And then one more thing about him; since there was no televisions at that time, he was very active in increasing the size of his family! He had 13 children in total. He made sure all of them were educated, and he sent them out to set up schools, and tutor the local people. There is so much more that I could say about him, but I will move forward to my father, who also was a Mason. My father was born in 1895, and several of my uncles on my mother's side were Masons, so I was sort of washed in Masonry, and I saw them do good things and become leaders in the community and instill those values in me and my siblings. My mother had four brothers, as I mentioned before were all Masons, who encouraged me to be involved in their community events. So, I couldn't wait until I was old enough to join the Order.
Dr. Hall spending time with his sister.
SGIG Matthews: Great insight sir. You have kind of laid out a little bit about your father, your uncles on your mother's side, and how they influenced your Masonic journey. But I want take you just a few steps back in the timeline. You mentioned about your roots in South Carolina. Where were you born? SGIG Hall: I was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. Which is about 135 miles from where my mother and father met. The family inherited a plantation, which was in the Carolinas, but those who wanted other jobs not relat- ed to farming moved out to other areas. But since my father was a very active person in education in the local area, and so he chose to reside in South Carolina. SGIG Matthews: What year where you born? SGIG Hall: 1934 SGIG Matthews: I know that was a magical year, because we've talked about you and your age and how you are still quite youthful for being over 90 years old. So, you were born in 1934 in Tennessee, and you talked about your father being very active in education and your lineage with the founding of a school. Where did that put you with school? Can you tell us about your educational background? SGIG Hall: I attended Friendship College, the school founded by my grandfather. In fact, all of our family members attended Friendship [College] before moving on out into their respective occupations. The family was very high on education and they instilled those values in me and the entire family. SGIG Hall: I was successful in elementary and secondary school. So why did I join the Air Force? I'm not sure, but I can remember seeing people in uniforms, and that appealed to me and ultimately made me interest- ed in joining. I entered the Air Force in 1952, much to the dismay of my mother, who was very upset about my decision. My father did sign for me to join, since I was interested before turning 18. The educational op- portunities and paid college were reasons I was drawn to the service, and my father supported that decision. It was quite difficult when I first joined, it wasn't as easy as the recruiter had said it would be. My job in the Air Force was in communication, and I attended school at night in pursuit of my degree. After I served for three years, the Air Force released me in a program called Operation Bootstrap to come back to the Universi- ty of Maryland so I could complete my Bachelor ’ s degree. My second degree is from Boston University, in which I acquired a Master's degree and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies. I did not pursue my doc- torate at Boston University because my Master ’ s program did not require a thesis. The doctorate program at
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker