History professor and author Robert Hall ’65 developed his love of the subject as a student at St. Paul’s.

Jeff Selesnick

Being one of the first African American students to graduate from St. Paul’s School is a point of pride for Robert “Bob” Hall ’65.

“As a pioneer of sorts (along with Luther Hilton Foster ’64 and Ted Landsmark ’64), we helped open the door to later generations of African American students,” notes Hall, a 2021 recipient of the SPS Alumni Association Award. “Despite some of the social and academic challenges some of us faced while at the School, that is a good thing.”

In a career dedicated to education, Hall contributed a wealth of influential works in the areas of African American history and civil rights. And, while he has received numerous accolades for his work, Hall says receiving the Alumni Association Award from his alma mater is truly special. “It is quite meaningful to be named a recipient of this award,” says Hall, who points to his loyal reunion attendance as one sign of his admiration for SPS. “The School has been a big part of my, and my wife, Jackie’s, life.”

It was at St. Paul’s that Hall developed a love of history and a thirst for learning that would shape his career trajectory. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard in 1969, and was instrumental in creating the university’s first-ever Department of African and African American Studies. He earned his master’s from Florida State three years later, and joined the school’s faculty while working toward his Ph.D. in history, which he received in 1984. Hall held a handful of notable positions during his time at FSU, including the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Fellowship and post-doctoral fellowships from the Smithsonian Institution and the American Council of Learned Societies.

Hall spent the next four years as assistant professor of African American studies and history and the University of Maryland Baltimore County, before accepting a position as associate professor for African American studies and history at Northeastern University in Boston. He led the Department of African American Studies as chair from 1998 to 2001, as acting chair from 2005 to 2008, and as interim chair from 2012 until his retirement in 2016. The co-author of three books and author of countless articles, Hall’s most memorable career moments have come from involvement in what he refers to as “public history” projects. He has contributed to several films in the American Experience series and has consulted on multiple museum exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution.

In a written message delivered to an influential history teacher just before his SPS graduation, Hall voiced how the School had prepared him for the rigors of academia. “After four years of ‘jumping through the hoop’ at St. Paul’s School,” Hall said in that message, “I am ready to perform in the center ring if I must. The thought and precision demanded by your ‘mental gymnastics’ have given me a boost in the right direction.”