In 1940, 35-year old David Hall and his wife Channie Hicks Hall, purchased nearly 80 acres of property for $1,800. Hall became a third-generation landowner, an extraordinary accomplishment for blacks or whites in Alabama at that time.

The Hall Farm was so successful that, unlike most Black families in the area, none of their eight children had to forego their education to work on white-owned farms for financial support. But, the dream was disrupted when Channie Hall died at the age of 35 with prolonged complications after childbirth.

Channie’s life example inspired David to do more. Racial and civil tension heightened in Selma because of systematic and institutional Black voter suppression. Jimmy Lee Jackson was murdered by police. Marchers were brutally assaulted at the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday. These tensions motivated and mobilized the community`.

One day, on his way home from town, Hall stopped by a restaurant. Hall overheard SCLC organizers discussing an upcoming march in Selma to protest Black voter suppression.

King and his team expressed frustration about marchers having no safe options for the first campsite along the route from Selma to Montgomery. Hall approached the group and offered his land. King warned Hall of the dangers of participating. Hall replied, "I fear no man, but the Lord," and the all-important Campsite 1 was confirmed.

Despite threats against him and his family, Hall provided a camp ground for the marchers . Dr. King and his leadership team slept in sleeping bags in a mobile unit stationed near the campsite. The Bloody Sunday Assail and the eventual Voting Rights March pressured Congress to pass the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Campsite 1 and two other black-owned campsites along the 54 mile stretch to Montgomery played a pivotal role in the success of the voting rights movement.

Hall's courage resulted in negative consequences for his family and livelihood. He was snubbed by the white community and threatened by the Ku Klux Klan. People’s Bank and Trust closed his bank account and denied lines of credit needed to operate the Hall farm. Hall maintained ownership of his property, but could no longer operate it as a farm.

By establishing the HHCC, Hall’s family strives to educate the world about his legacy and honor the untold history and unsung heroes essential to the success of the voting rights movement. The HHCC will serve as a civil rights pilgramage destination, training center and economic empowerment vehicle for the Selma community.