A Legacy of Faith, Education & Leadership

William Franklin Hall was born November 4, 1903, in the community of Mayland near Crossville, Tennessee. He attended Draughons Business College, then graduated from Knoxville High School. He earned the B.A. from Carson-Newman College in 1926 and began his teaching career at Harrison Chilhowee in the autumn of that year. He was initially employed to teach fifth and sixth grades, and he was offered an additional five dollars per month to teach a class in Bible. He accepted the offer.

In 1928, he added the B.S. in Education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His graduate studies there resulted in a Master of Arts in 1936 with a major in History and a minor in Education.

William was saved at age 9 at First Methodist Church, Tuscumbia, Alabama. He joined Gillespie Avenue Baptist Church in Knoxville at age 16, and acknowledged God’s call on his life at age 17 to enter the ministry of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

When “Professor Hall,” as many students came to call him throughout his 44-year teaching career, arrived at HCBA, he initially taught English and History. However, he is primarily remembered for his Bible classes. Except for nineteen months in 1936–1938, when he served as pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Springfield, Tennessee, he taught continuously until his retirement at age 68 in 1971.

During a particularly contentious period in the relationship between the academy and the Tennessee Baptist Convention, Professor Hall rose to the occasion to defend the school he dearly loved. Despite the convention’s support of HCBA since 1932, there was a motion on the floor of the 1959 annual TBC meeting to essentially close the academy. He used his knowledge of parliamentary procedures to offer a substitute motion as part of a passionate appeal to the messengers. His motion prevailed by a vote of 463 to 457. The following year, a similar motion to close the school by June 30, 1962, was under consideration. Once again, Professor Hall’s voice was heard in support of another substitute motion. The academy survived by a vote of 391 to 303. In spite of this intense opposition, the school experienced remarkable growth and prosperity over the next ten years, with five new major educational buildings constructed on campus.

Mr. Hall’s published works include When Dreams Come True; History of Carson-Newman College; Notes and Outlines of the Old Testament; New Testament Outlines; three articles in the Southern Baptist Encyclopedia; and his signature work, A Venture of Faith, History of Harrison Chilhowee Baptist Academy 100th Anniversary 1880–1980.

Among his notable activities and accomplishments:

• He coached the academy’s first girls’ basketball team in 1926–1927 during his first year as a teacher.
• He sponsored several student organizations:
  • Baptist Student Union
  • Ministerial Association
  • Life Service Band
  • Yearbook
• He was elected to the academy Board of Trustees in 1980.
• He prepared hundreds of men, from teenagers to married men with several children, for the preaching ministry.
• He played significant roles in the organization of 15 churches in the Chilhowee Baptist Association (Blount County).
• He preached regularly in area churches, serving as pastor or interim pastor for:
  • First Chilhowee Baptist Church (now First Baptist Church, Seymour)
  • Stock Creek Baptist Church, Knoxville
  • Rankin Baptist Church, Rankin
  • Forest Hill Baptist Church, Parrottsville
  • Grace Baptist Church, Springfield
  • Dupont Baptist Church, Seymour
  • Grandview Baptist Church, Maryville
  • Wildwood Baptist Church, Maryville
  • Ellejoy Baptist Church, Seymour
  • Prospect Baptist Church, Walland
  • Wallace Memorial Baptist Church, Knoxville

Mr. Hall married Nola Rice on December 23, 1925. Mrs. Hall passed away December 10, 2003. They had three children, all of whom graduated from HCBA: William F. Hall, Jr. (’43), Mary Phillips (’46), and Christine Rutledge (’49).