Former Gary City Clerk Katie Hall dies
by Carole Carlson ccarlson@post-trib.com February 20, 2012 2:48PM
Gary City Chief Deputy Clerk Junifer Hall and her mother Gary City Clerk Katie Hall enter the United States Federal Courthouse in Hammond to enter their pleas at an arraignment hearing in US District Court on a 22-count indictment Thursday May 29, 2002. K
Katie Beatrice Hall timeline
Born: April 3, 1938 in Mound Bayou, Bolivar County, Miss.
1957: marries John Henry Hall
1960: receives bachelor’s degree from Mississippi Valley State University
1968: receives a master’s degree from Indiana University
1974-76: member, Indiana House of Representatives
1978-80: chairwoman, Lake County Democratic Committee
1976-82: member, Indiana Senate
1982: is appointed to U.S. Congress following death of Adam Benjamin Jr.
1983-85: is elected to Congress
1983: introduces King holiday bill signed by President Ronald Reagan
1984: loses primary to Peter Visclosky
1988-2003: Gary city clerk
2002: is indicted on 22 counts by federal grand jury
2003: pleads guilty to federal mail fraud charges
2012: dies at age 73
Article Extras
Updated: March 22, 2012 8:10AM
GARY — Former U.S. congresswoman and Ga ry City Clerk Katie Hall died Monday morning at Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus from an undisclosed illness. The first black from Indiana elected to Congress, Hall, 73, sponsored the 1983 law that made the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday. Almost two decades later as Gary city clerk, she pleaded guilty to extorting money from her staff in the clerk’s office. She and her daughter Junifer Hall were indicted by a federal grand jury in 2002 following a series of articles in the Post-Tribune. The Halls pleaded guilty to four of 22 counts of mail fraud, extortion and racketeering charges. Hall was spared a prison sentence, but Junifer Hall served 16 months. Hall’s services will be handled by Guy & Allen Funeral Directors in Gary. No arrangements have been completed yet, according to Roosevelt Allen. Hall’s family could not be reached for comment. Katie Hall, who held degrees in political science and social studies, married lawyer John Henry Hall in 1957 and the couple had three children. She grew up as one of 12 children in the precivil rights era in Mississippi under strict segregation laws. After hearing speeches by former congressmen Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and William Dawson, Hall believed she could find a better life outside of Mississippi. After marrying Hall, the couple moved to Indiana. Gary politicians and friends remembered her Monday. “Katie Hall was a history maker, that’s for sure,” former Gary Mayor Rudy Clay said. “She charged the Martin Luther King Day bill through the Congress, and she helped fight for civil rights our community. It’s a great loss.” Hall also taught social studies in the Gary Community School Corp. In her early political career, she became a close ally of former Mayor Richard G. Hatcher. With his support, she won a seat in the state House of Representatives in 1974. She won election to the state Senate in 1976. In 1982, after the death of U.S. Rep. Adam Benjamin Jr., Hatcher, the chairman of the First Congressional District’s Democratic committee, appointed her to fill Benjamin’s vacant term. She won election to the newly reapportioned district and served from 1983 to 1985, when she lost the Democratic primary to Peter Visclosky, who still holds the seat. Gary historian Dolly Millender said Hall is part of her new book, “Gary’s Legendary Locals.” “Katie is in there standing behind Ronald Reagan as he signs the bill for Martin Luther King Day. It’s a great tribute.” Millender said Hall shepherded the King holiday through Congress when others before her had failed. “I think it was the female approach and her friendship with Mrs. King,” she said. Ragen Hatcher, a daughter of Richard Hatcher, remembered Hall as a trailblazer. “She changed history for all Americans when she was able to get the Martin Luther King Day bill passed during her term.” State Rep. Charlie Brown, of Gary, said Hall avoided the public eye in recent years. “But Katie is a loved person. She had done so many things that were positive, I hated to see the dwelling on the negative.” In 2001, then-Post-Tribune reporter Steve Patterson wrote a story saying employees in Hall’s city clerk’s office were required to sell candy and buy tickets to keep their jobs. The story led to the indictments of Hall and her daughter.
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