"Rev Dr. Prathia Hall" (1940-2002)

Was a leader and activist in the Civil Rights Movement,womanist theologian,ethicist.She likely was the key inspiration for Dr.Martin Luther King,Jr's I Have a Dream Speech.She was in

Philadelphia,the daughters of founders of Mount Sharon Baptist Church,an inner-city church,in an under-served area of Philadelphia.Her father was a Baptist preacher who regarded her as his successor.Her leadership potential was recognized early,and she credited many groups,such as the National Conference of Christians &Jews for singling her out and helping her out to develop.Prathia attended predominantly white schools until college,at age 5,on a train ride South Prathia and her sisters were forced to sit in a car behind the engine.This was her first experience of dehumanizing discrimination.By her mid-teens she hoped to join the African-American Civil Rights Movement.After graduating high school she attended Temple University.In 1961,while still a junior at Temple,Prathia was arrested in Annapolis,Maryland for participation in the anti-segregation protests on Maryland's Eastern Shore and was in jail for two weeks.After graduating from Temple with a degree in political science,she joined the Students Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) working Charles Sherrod,in Southwest Georgia.In 1962,white gunman shot her and fellow activists,Jack Chatfield and Christopher Allen at the house of Carolyn Daniels in Terrell County,Georgia.Prathia was shot at by police and jailed many times in Georgia,including the notorious Sasser Jail.She became involved in the Albany Movement,becoming known for her oratorical power,speaking movement meetings and preaching as well.She preached at the Albany Movement's first anniversary program along with Dr.Martin Luther King,Jr.,who praised her oratorical skills.Prathia spoked of her dream for the future at the burned down site of the Mt.Olive Mount Baptist Church where had its mass meetings in Terrell County.She often repeated the phrase "I have a dream"during her speeches,which some say became the inspiration to Martin for his famous "I Have a Dream"speech.After Southwest Georgia,she worked in Selma Alabama.Prathia worked for SNCC until 1966.