Hall gained his greatest notoriety from his work as an administrator in the formative years of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). After a spate of fatalities in 1905, football came under fire from college administrators, alumni, and President Theodore Roosevelt. The NCAA was formed in March 1906 in response to the controversy, and Hall was chosen to develop changes in the rules to make the game safer and more interesting. He replaced Walter Camp as secretary of college football's rules committee in 1906 and served as the committee's chairman from 1911 until his death in 1932.
Early years
Hall was born in 1870 in Granville, Illinois, approximately 100 miles southwest of Chicago. His father, Charles Prentiss Hall, was a New Hampshire native, teacher and high school principal who had served in the 14th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. His mother, Lucia Cotton Kimball Hall, was also a New Hampshire native. By 1880, Hall had moved to Hinsdale, New Hampshire, where his father became the superintendent of schools.[1][2]
In July 1892, several days after graduating from Dartmouth, Hall was hired by the University of Illinois to serve as head football coach and director of physical training at a salary of $1,000. He announced at the time that he would spend the summer working as a waiter at a hotel in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, before reporting to Illinois.[5] He was the third head football coach at Illinois, held that position for the 1892 and 1893 seasons, and led the team to a record of 12–6–4 in his two years as head coach.[6] His 1892 team compiled a 9–4–1 record, played the first games in the football rivalries with Northwestern and Chicago, and played six road games in nine days (four wins and two losses) in late October 1892.[7][8] Hall was also the first head baseball coach at Illinois, coaching three seasons from 1892 to 1894 and tallying a mark of 30–17.[9] While at Illinois, Hall also studied law at the office of a prominent lawyer in Urbana, Illinois, and organized the first intercollegiate track meet in the Midwest.[3]
In 1919, Hall moved to New York and became a vice president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T). In April 1930, he retired at age 60 from his position at AT&T, leaving a reported salary of $50,000. He moved to Hanover, New Hampshire, where he lectured on industrial relations and management at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. Even after retiring from his position at AT&T, he continued to serve as a director of several prominent industrial and banking companies (including Atlas Corporation, Electric Bond and Share Company, and New England Telephone & Telegraph Co.) and in early 1932 became a director of the United Fruit Company.[1][4][11]
Family and later years
Hall married to Sally Drew Hall in 1902.[3] They had three children, sons Edward K. Hall, Jr., and Richard Drew Hall, and a daughter, Dorothy who became Mrs. Laurence G. Leavitt. In 1924, their son, Richard Drew Hall, died after a few hours' illness while a sophomore at Dartmouth. Hall donated an infirmary at Dartmouth that was named Dick Hall's house in honor of his son.[1][3]
Hall died from a heart attack at age 62 at his home in Hanover, New Hampshire, in November 1932.[1][7] At a funeral service held at the Dartmouth College Chapel, Hall was lauded as "the 'savior' of American college football." He was buried in Dartmouth Cemetery.[12] Famed sports writer Allison Danzig called Hall's death "the heaviest blow football has suffered in years."[13]
In 1933, Hall ranked seventh in voting by the Associated Press to select the greatest sports leaders of the past decade.[14] In 1951, he was elected by the country's sports writers and broadcasters as part of the inaugural class (32 players, 21 coaches) to be inducted into the newly organized Football Hall of Fame (later renamed the College Football Hall of Fame).[15]
Hall's papers were later donated to Dartmouth and are housed at the Rauner Special Collections Library.[3]
^Census entry for Charles P. Hall and family. Son Edward K., age 9, born in Illinois. Ancestry.com. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Census Place: Hinsdale, Cheshire, New Hampshire; Roll: 761; Family History Film: 1254761; Page: 64A; Enumeration District: 051; Image: 0129.
