Black History - Rev. Dr. Prathia Hall

On January 1, 1940, Prathia Hall was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ruby Hall and Rev. Berley C. Hall were her parents. Out of the four children, she was the second. Her father served as a Baptist clergyman. He thought that striving for freedom and having faith went hand in hand. 

Her parents dedicated their lives to providing food, clothing, and support to those in need. Hall took a cue from them. When she was a teenager, Rev. Dr. Prathia Hall became a member of the Philadelphia Fellowship House. This group promoted harmonious interracial relations. In order to teach people how to protest peacefully, the group also conducted workshops. 

Hall joined the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) after college. She worked as a field secretary in Maryland, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. She organized voter education programs, helped improve literacy, and led sit-ins at segregated restaurants. She also helped families who were integrating schools in Mississippi.

Her sermon "Between the Wilderness and the Cliff" is among her best-known works. She gave a sermon on how Christian ministry takes place in challenging environments. She clarified that this also applied to women in ministry and African American life.

Rev. Dr. Hall conducted prayers at a vigil in Terrell County, Georgia, in 1962. Rev. Dr. Hall conducted prayers at a vigil in Terrell County, Georgia, in 1962. A fire had destroyed the Baptist Church in Mount Olive. A fire had destroyed the Baptist Church in Mount Olive. There was Martin Luther King Jr. Hall heard her say, "I have a dream," multiple times while he prayed for racial justice. After hearing her, King told Hall he wanted to use that phrase in his own speeches. He was allowed to use it by Hall. Hall was the first to say it, but many people don't know that. 

On November 11, 1961, Rev. Dr. Hall and ten other activists were taken into custody. In Annapolis, Maryland, they were staging a sit-in at a restaurant. In 1962, while staying in a house with other SNCC employees, she was shot at by night riders. She sustained minor wounds from bullets.

She married Ralph Wynn in 1965 and moved to Roosevelt, NY, where he had taken a job. This allowed her to go to Princeton Theological Seminary. Hall became pastor of her father’s church, Rose of Sharon Baptist Church in Philadelphia, in 1978. She also preached in Germany and along the Gold Coast of Africa. She was honored as a pioneering woman minister in the American Baptist Association.

Prathia Hall dedicated her later years to training Black female ministers. She taught at Boston University School of Theology as an associate professor. She held the Martin Luther King Jr. Chair in Social Ethics. She died of cancer in 2002. Her work helped prepare the next generation of women religious leaders.