2022 Black Heritage Calendar - Presented by the Black Educators' Caucus Inc., of Hernando County

Barbie Hall
1937-2001
Barbie Jane Hart-Hall is a native of Brooksville and Salutatorian of Moton High
School Class of 1957. Her work ethics and value system were shaped by
several institutions: home, heritage, faith, school, and college. She was a
founding member of the Black Educators’ Caucus, Inc., of Hernando County
and served as president 1995-2001, the year of her demise.
She was raised in Bethlehem Progressive (Missionary) Baptist Church
where she was active in all aspects of church life, from Sunday school to
the Young People Development, sang in the choir, Vacation Bible School,
Pastor’s Aid Club, and was the Pastor’s personal secretary. Barbie was
completing her freshman year in high school when the Supreme Court
declared the separate but equal doctrine unconstitutional in the Brown v.
Board of Education Decision in 1954. Her devotion to the Baptist faith led
her to Florida Memorial College in Saint Augustine, Florida, an affiliate of the
First South Florida Missionary Baptist Association. Florida Memorial was a
decade into offering four-year degrees. Prior to that time, it was a junior
college. She earned a masters’ degree from the University of South Florida
and studied at Howard University also. She was barely out of college when the
Southern states started desegregating their public schools, and the civil rights
movement was escalating.
Her teaching career commenced in 1961, as an elementary teacher at her alma mater, Moton High School. Barbie
was employed with the Hernando County Schools for 30 years until her demise. She taught at Moton to the end of
the desegregation era of public schools. She also worked at Mitchell L. Black Elementary and Westside
Elementary schools. Barbie was an excellent teacher and was recognized by BEC as its Teacher of the Year in
2001. As a third-generation member of the Timmons Family, the oldest Black family in Hernando County, she was
active in the Timmons Family Reunion, preservation of the Spring Hill African American Cemetery, and a supporter
of Kennedy Park Little League. She was a member of the Moton High School Reunion 50th Anniversary
Celebration, 1939-1989 Steering, and Alumni Committees, Hernando County Classroom Teachers Association,
Florida Educational Association and National Education Association. Finally, Barbie was a member of Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority. A plaque was placed on the Mid-Community Services Head Start office wall on School Street in her
honor by her children.
Barbie Jane was married to James Hall; Sr. and they were the parents of two children: Gina “Cookie” Hall and
James “Chip” Hall. She loved her family. She was the daughter of Moody and Ruby Hart.
Sponsors: James Hall, Jr., and Gina Hall
“I believe unconditionally in the ability of people to respond when they are told the truth. We need to
be taught to study rather than believe, to inquire rather than to affirm.” ― Septima Poinsette Clark