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Katie Beatrice Hall

Representative, 1982–1985, Democrat from Indiana

Katie Beatrice Hall Image Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration

Growing up in the pre-civil rights era South, Katie Hall could not exercise her constitutional right to vote. Subject to segregation laws, Hall felt trapped in her tiny hometown until she heard two speeches that changed her life; the speakers were African-American Congressmen Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York, and William Dawson of Illinois. The experience led her to believe that she could receive a quality education and that there was a better life for her outside Mississippi.1 Hall eventually sought public office and became the first African American elected from Indiana to serve in the House of Representatives. Among her chief accomplishments was piloting a bill through Congress to make the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a national holiday.

On April 3, 1938, Katie Beatrice Green was born to Jeff and Bessie Mae Hooper Green, in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. One of twelve children, Katie attended the public schools in Mound Bayou before receiving a B.S. 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 her M.S. degree 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 black lawyer Richard Hatcher, a Gary mayoral candidate. Her experience on the sidelines 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 there in 1974. Two years later, Hall was elected to the state senate, where she served from 1976 until 1982. She also served as the chair of the Lake County Democratic Committee from 1978 to 1980, and chaired the 1980 Indiana Democratic convention.

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 Congressman’s death to discuss a possible successor and was surprised to hear mention of her name; however, her aspiration for 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.”2 Patricia Benjamin, the Congressman’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).3 Then-chairman Richard Hatcher, whom Hall considered her political mentor, did not forget Hall’s support for his mayoral campaigns.4 He selected his protégé to run for the vacant seat which represented the northwest corner of the state, anchored by Gary. At the same time, the committee nominated Hall—with Hatcher casting the deciding vote—to a full term in the 98th Congress (1983–1985) to represent a newly reapportioned district.5 The district’s boundaries remained relatively unchanged after the reapportionment, and white northern Indiana Democrats expressed concern over Hall’s electability because of her race; downtown Gary was primarily black, but the suburbs gave the district a 70 percent white constituency.6 A legal battle ensued when Patricia Benjamin’s supporters claimed that Hatcher, as chairman of the old district, did not have the right to select a candidate for the new district.7 The courts refused to overturn Hatcher’s decision, and Hall’s nomination as the Democratic nominee for both the vacancy and the full term stood, a position tantamount to election in the working-class, Democratic district. Hall defeated her Republican opponent, Thomas Krieger, with 63 percent to win election to the remainder of the 97th Congress.8 She simultaneously won election with 56 percent of the vote for the 98th Congress.9 Upon her election, Hall became the first black woman from Indiana to serve in the U.S. Congress.

When she arrived in Washington to be sworn in on November 2, 1982, Representative Hall received assignments typical to freshmen Members: the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service and the Committee on Public Works and Transportation. Representative Hall voted with the Democratic majority against much of the Ronald W. Reagan administration’s legislative agenda, focusing on education, labor, and women’s issues. In addition, Congresswoman Hall became involved in the fight to alleviate famine in Africa when, during a congressional trip to northern Ethiopia, she was moved by the widespread suffering she witnessed. Hall also supported a variety of measures designed to reduce her urban and industrial district’s high rate of unemployment and to mitigate the attendant social problems: crime, family debt and bankruptcy, and alcohol and drug abuse. As a member of the House Steel Caucus, Hall endorsed the Fair Trade in Steel Act, which was intended to revitalize Gary’s ailing steel industry.

Katie Hall’s most lasting legislative contribution came as chairwoman of the Post Office and Civil Service’s subcommittee on Census and Population. Devoted to commemorating the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in July 1983, Hall introduced a bill to make King’s birthday a federal holiday. Since the King assassination in 1968, similar measures had been introduced annually, but all had failed. As a nod to her negotiating abilities, Hall became the measure’s floor manager. The primary argument against the bill led by fiscal conservatives was the large cost of the holiday to the federal government, estimated at $18 million in holiday overtime pay and lost work time.10 Hall courted detractors by moving the holiday from a fixed date—King’s January 15 birthday—to the third Monday of January to prevent government offices from opening twice in one week, therefore saving money. Under Hall’s leadership, the House Subcommittee on Census and Population passed the measure in a five-to-one vote, sending it to the House Floor. In opening the debate, Hall reminded her colleagues that “the legislation before us will act as a national commitment to Dr. King’s vision and determination for an ideal America, which he spoke of the night before his death, where equality will always prevail.”11 Hall’s persistence paid off. In November 1983, 15 years after King’s assassination, the bill passed the House by a vote of 338 to 90.12 Impressed by Hall’s success, veteran lawmaker William Gray of Pennsylvania observed, “Sometimes when you get to the goal line it’s good to go to someone fresh and new to take it over. She brought a freshness of approach, a spirit of reconciliation to what had sometimes been a bitter battle.”13

In her 1984 bid for renomination and re-election to the 99th Congress (1985–1987), Katie Hall faced a formidable challenge. Despite her widespread support, including from Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill of Massachusetts, two strong Democrats challenged Hall in her district primary, former Adam Benjamin aide Peter Visclosky and county prosecutor Jack Crawford. Hall maintained that intraparty opposition was, in some measure, based on her race and gender. During one debate Hall declared, “If I wasn’t black and female, there wouldn’t be a contest.”14 Reverend Jesse Jackson, whose name appeared on the primary ballot for the Democratic presidential nominee, also rallied to her aid.15 In the May primary, Hall lost the Democratic nomination to Visclosky by a margin of 2,367 votes. Hall immediately cited racial injustice for her primary loss.16 Most detrimental to her case, however, was that outside of Hatcher, prominent African-American officials in Gary had not rallied support behind her, resulting in only a 50 percent voter turnout in the predominately black city.17 Hall also questioned returns in areas where polls indicated she ran stronger than the final count.18 The incumbent filed a petition and won a suit for a recount of the primary results; however, the recount only confirmed her losing margin.

After Congress, Hall continued to be active in Indiana Democratic politics. In 1986 and in 1990, she tried but failed to recapture the Democratic nomination in her old House district. Hall returned to Gary and served as the vice chair of the city’s housing board commissioners. Hall became the Gary city clerk in 1985. She resigned in January 2003, after pleading guilty to charges of federal mail fraud.19

Further Reading

“Hall, Katie Beatrice” Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000058.

Catlin, Robert A. “Organizational Effectiveness and Black Political Participation: The Case of Katie Hall,” Phylon 46 (September 1985): 179–192.

Footnotes

  1. Steven V. Roberts, “Mississippi Gets a Representative from Indiana,” 26 November 1982, New York Times: B8.
  2. Jan Carroll, “Katie Hall Could Be First Black Representative From Indiana,” 21 September 1982, Associated Press.
  3. “Black Woman Nominated to Succeed Benjamin,” 13 September 1982, Associated Press.
  4. Carroll, “Katie Hall Could Be First Black Representative From Indiana.”
  5. James R. Dickerson, “Indiana Democrats Feud Over Benjamin’s Seat,” 19 September 1982, Washington Post: A10.
  6. “Black Woman Nominated to Succeed Benjamin” for statistics on the white majority, see Almanac of American Politics, 1984 (Washington, D.C.: National Journal Inc., 1983): 387; Julia Malone, “Folks Back Home Speak Their Piece to Representatives,” 8 September 1982, Christian Science Monitor: 1.
  7. Dickerson, “Indiana Democrats Feud Over Benjamin’s Seat.”
  8. “Gary Indiana Newspaper Rejects Candidate’s Newspaper Ad,” 27 October 1982, United Press International; Roberts, “Mississippi Gets a Representative from Indiana.”
  9. “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html.
  10. Larry Margasak, “Courting Conservatives to Back King Holiday,” 14 August 1983, Associated Press.
  11. Congressional Record, House, 98th Cong., 1st sess. (2 August 1983): 22208.
  12. A three-year grace period also was part of the compromise (see Sandra Evans Teeley, “King Holiday Bill Approved by House Panel,” 1 July 1983, Washington Post: A10). The United States celebrated its first Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday on January 20, 1986.
  13. Margasak, “Courting Conservatives to Back King Holiday.”
  14. E.R. Shipp, “Rep. Katie Hall Facing Tough Fight in Indiana,” 7 May 1984, New York Times: B8.
  15. David S. Broder and Kevin Klose, “Two States’ House Primaries Will Involve Interracial Battles,” 5 May 1984, Washington Post: A7.
  16. “Mrs. Hall Loses Bid for Renomination in Indiana; Racism Charged,” 10 May 1984, Washington Post: B19.
  17. “Racism, Low Voter Turnout Blamed for Black Congresswoman’s Defeat,” 9 May 1984, Associated Press.
  18. “Black Congresswoman Seeks Recount After Loss in Democratic Primary,” 22 May 1984, Associated Press.
  19. Barbara Sherlock, “Gary Official Resigns After Pleading Guilty; City Clerk Accepts Mail Fraud Charges,” 29 January 2003, Chicago Tribune: N2.