Robert D. Hall, historian and author will present The Praying Indians of Dedham, Thursday, May 13, 7:30 PM at the Dedham Historical Society museum/auditorium, 612 High Street. The cost is $5, with no charge for members. Hall will tell the history of John Eliot’s first establishment of a home for those American Indians he converted to Christianity, educated, and “civilized” on a tract of land carved out of Dedham and located in what are today portions of Natick, Dover, Wellesley, and Needham…and some of the Indians’ exploits during both King Philip’s War and the American Revolution.
Hall is a resident of Needham where he now serves as a member of the Needham Historical Commission and as Needham Historical Society Historian and Editor of its newsletter, “The NHS Gazette,” for which he has written nearly 100 essays on the history of Needham and environs, including the Indian Lands.
Hall has lectured at schools, historical societies, and before numerous clubs and organizations throughout New England on such subjects as The American Civil War, The Irish Invasion of Canada, Rufus Porter, Peripatetic Artist, King Philip’s War, and the Massachusetts Praying Indians.
Before retirement, he served with the Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services and as Treasurer of Norfolk County. He is a graduate of Brown University which he attended In the years between World War 2 (during which he served in the United States Navy) and the Korean War (during which he served in the United States Army). He is a member of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts, the Olde Colony Civil War Round Table, the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, the Lincoln Society of Boston, and is currently serving as a Commissioner on the Massachusetts Abraham Lincoln Bi-Centennial Commission, and as a Trustee on the Board of MassBay Community College.