She was educated at private schools in Boston and nearby, including the
Agassiz School of
Cambridge. She later studied music with
Otto Dresel, the pianist, music teacher and composer.[10]
Career
She was a writer, critic, and lecturer about
women's suffrage in the United States, serving as president of the New Jersey State Woman Suffrage Association from 1893 to 1900.
Hall began her writing career with children's stories, but quickly moved on to memoirs and etiquette books.[11]
She was the author of Social Customs: Boys, Girls and Manners, The Correct Thing in Good Society, Social Usages at Washington, which she wrote with her sister Maud Elliot.[10] In 1917, Hall received a
Pulitzer prize for her biography of her mother, entitled Julia Ward Howe, the first Pulitzer Prize for a biography.[2] Along with her sisters, she also wrote a biography of
Laura Bridgeman, who was a student of their father's.[11]
For eleven years, Hall served as president of the Plainfield, New Jersey branch of the National Alliance of Unitarian Women and, for several years, regent of the Continental Chapter of the
Daughters of the American Revolution.[10][12]
Personal life
On November 15, 1871, she was married to David Prescott Hall (1845–1907). David, a lawyer, was the youngest son of six children born to David Priestley Hall, a Harvard educated lawyer, and Caroline (
née Minturn) Hall,[13] who spent their summers in
Newport, Rhode Island.[14] The couple met while Hall was in Newport and had four children:[14]
Samuel Prescott Hall (1872–1958), who married Sarah Thomson (1873–1940).[15] He was a graduate of Harvard.[10]
Caroline Minturn Hall (1874–1972), who married the Rev. Hugh Birckhead (1876–1929),[15] Rector of
St. George's Church in
Manhattan.[16] Caroline studied painting for seven years in Paris.[10]
Henry Marion Hall (1877–1963), who married Alice Louise Haskell (1880–1977).[15] He was a graduate of Harvard and
Columbia University.[10]
John Howe Hall (1881–1953), who married Gertrude Earnshaw (1892–1964).[17] He was a graduate of Harvard.[10]