Collection number: MC 326
Size:
(4 boxes)
(1.32 cu.ft.)
About
Fred W. Hall Jr. was born on Sept. 22, 1920 in Franklin, NH. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1941. Three days after Pearl Harbor, he was inducted into the Army and continued to the war’s end in 1945. He served in the 16th infantry, seeing action in eight campaigns in North Africa, Sicily and France.
After the war, Hall attended the University of Michigan Law School, graduating in 1948. He was a partner for 60 years in the Rochester, N.H. law firm Cooper, Hall, Whittum & Shillaber, a member of the American Bar Association, past president of the NH Bar Association, and active in Republican politics. Hall was elected to the office of solicitor in both Strafford county and the city of Rochester. He was a charter member of the Rochester Rotary club and the city’s Citizen of the Year in 2007.
On Sept. 23, 1950 he married Jane Coe Hall '39 and they shared 54 years together before her death on Sept.28, 2004. They raised three children- Marcella, Susan and John. Together they established the UNH Coe-Hall Fund for Campus Beautification and a Dean's Scholarship Fund.
A strong supporter of UNH, Fred served as Director of the UNH Alumni Association and was a member and Chair of the UNH Board of Trustees (1966-1973). He received the Alumni Meritorious Service Award and the Alumni Association Profile of Service Award. Hall House, a student dormitory, was named in his honor. In 1974, UNH conferred on him an honorary LLD degree. He was a recipient of the UNH Alumni Pettee Medal and a member of the UNH ROTC Hall of Fame.
In 1982, Fred and Jane visited France and walked on Omaha Beach where he had fought his way ashore 38 years previously. Hall returned to Normandy for the 60th anniversary of D-Day in 2004 accompanied by son John, daughter Susan and daughter-in-law Renee. The group attended a service at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-sur-Mer. For a family that had only learned the extent of his war experiences from his memoir, the experience was “moving beyond words,” remembers John. Hall passed away on January 20, 2017 at age 96.
About the Fred W. Hall Jr. Papers
This collection contains the papers and materials pertaining to Fred Hall's military, professional and civil life, 1940-2012. Included are military documents and correspondence, clippings, publications, photographs and memorabilia. His mother, Grace Hall, saved the letters he sent home during WWII, these have been photocopied and arranged in chronological order. In 1997, he wrote "A Memoir of World War II" detailing his experiences on D-Day in Normandy and through the end of the war.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
This collection is open.
Copyright Notice
Contents of this collection are governed by U.S. copyright law. For questions about publication or reproduction rights, contact Special Collections staff.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], [Box], [Folder], Fred W. Hall Jr. Papers, 1940-2017, MC 326, Milne Special Collections and Archives, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, NH, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Donated by John Hall, April 26, 2017
Collection Arrangement
The material was removed from the original containers (three-ring binders and plastic sleeves) and placed into archival folders. Original order was maintained within the folders including notes inserted by a family friend, David Miller.
Collection Contents
| Box 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Box 1, Folder 1-5 | "Fred Hall WWII Memoir": Papers and materials pertaining to his military career, 1941-1966 | |
| Box 1, Folder 6 | Army Memorabilia, undated | |
| Box 1, Folder 7 | Photographs (mostly military), 1940-2012 | |
| Box 2 | ||
| Box 2, Folder 1-4 | Career after WWII: Papers and materials pertaining to his professional and civil life, 1948-2017 | |
| Box 2, Folder 5 | Recognitions and Awards | |
| Box 2, Folder 6-7 | Miscellaneous papers/correspondence, 1992-1994 | |
| Box 2, Folder 8 | Hall family materials, undated | |
| Box 3 | ||
| Box 3, Folder 1 | V-Letters to Home (photocopies), 1942 | |
| Box 3, Folder 2 | V-Letters to Home (photocopies), 1943 | |
| Box 3, Folder 3 | V-Letters to Home (photocopies), 1944 | |
| Box 3, Folder 4 | V-Letters to Home (photocopies), 1945 | |
| Oversize Box 1 | ||
| Original V-letters to Home, 1942-1945 | ||
