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Hall Family. Papers Concerning Camilla Hall and George F. and Lorena Hall, 1938-1995. CAMC Collection 13. 1 ½ Hollinger boxes.
ABSTRACT:
The Hall Family collection consists primarily of materials documenting the life and death of Camilla Hall, a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), additional papers document the family’s collective life. Materials include correspondence, reports, clippings, drawings, poems, and stories. George and Lorena Hall were the parents of Camilla Hall. From 1938-1952, George was a professor at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. In addition, he was a minister in the Lutheran Church in America and later the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Lorena Hall helped found the Art Department at Gustavus Adolphus College. Arrangement is generally chronological but based on physical size.
Camilla Hall was born in St. Peter, Minnesota during March 1945. She graduated from Washburn High School in Minneapolis in 1963 and attended Gustavus Adolphus College for her first year subsequently transferring to the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She graduated with a degree in humanities during 1967 and went on to work as a social worker in Duluth and Minneapolis, Minnesota prior to moving to California. On the west coast, Hall immersed herself in a variety of social movements and developed relationships with some individuals who eventually became active in the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). Hall’s life ended on 17 May 1974 when she and several members of the SLA died during a gun battle with officers from the Los Angeles Police Department.
Lorena (Daeschner) Hall was born on 13 April 1911. After her husband was hired into the Christianity Department at Gustavus Adolphus College in 1938, Lorena helped found the college’s Art Department. Hall studied art under Dr. Birger Sandzen and Henry Varnum Poor. While at Gustavus, Hall served as department head and taught beginning and advanced drawing and painting, commercial design, handicraft, and the history of art. Hall left Gustavus in 1952 when her husband took a missionary position in Tanganyika (Tanzania). She died on 9 June 1995.
George F. Hall was born during June 1908. Following degree work at Augustana College and Augustana Seminary in Rock Island, Illinois and professional experience in the Christianity Department at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, he was hired to teach in the Christianity Department at Gustavus Adolphus College. Hall remained at Gustavus from 1938 into 1952 when he and his family left to serve as missionaries in Tanganyika (Tanzania) under the auspices of the Commission on Younger Churches and Orphaned Missions. Following a career of service, Hall died during October 2000 in Cook County, Illinois.
* Biographical information obtained from the collection.
The Hall Family collection consists of two series: Camilla Hall and the Hall Family. Records concerning Camilla Hall are broken down into three sub-series. These consist of the 1960s, Pre Death 1970-May 1974, and Post Death June1974-February 1979. Arrangement within each section is generally chronological.
Camilla Hall, 1962-1979:
1960s – This sub-series contains records documenting Hall’s activities in high school, college, and her brief career as a social worker in Duluth and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Included is her high school yearbook, clippings from school papers, university diploma, and correspondence to her parents.
Pre Death, 1970-May 1974 – Materials in this section document some of Hall’s activities and interests in the years after her move from Minnesota to the San Francisco area. Included are poems, drawings, correspondence, collaborative work with writer Ron DeZure, and information about the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). Materials about the SLA consist of the organization’s beliefs, transcript of Patty Hearst declaring allegiance to the SLA, and Communiqué #5.
Post Death, June 1974-February 1979 – Items in this sub-series consist of reports from the Police, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner for County of Los Angeles, and Lake Headley. Materials from the ACLU and Headley are similar. In addition, there is a copy of Hall’s death certificate along with related correspondence, and clippings and correspondence concerning Hall and her parents. A manuscript copy of Harvey Honig’s 1978 PhD dissertation on Hall is included.
Hall Family, 1938-1995:
The Hall Family series consists of clippings documenting Lorena Hall’s career in the Art Department at Gustavus and her activities in the St. Peter community. In addition, there is a manuscript copy of “I Remember Lorena” written by her husband George F. Hall shortly after her death. This document covers the family’s story from the 1930s through the mid 1990s.
