Planning a life for others
Jeffrey Lynn Hall Jr., who graduates from Harvard College today (May 26), grew up in the historically black western border of St. Louis — “a completely different world” from the buffed up areas of the city closer to Washington University, he said. “You notice a stark difference.” But his childhood was comfortable. “We had plenty on top of plenty,” said Hall, and academics were important from primary school on. “My mom always said that if my sister and I brought her A’s and B’s, we would get A and B privileges.” The constraints of a divided city were hard to miss. “In my childhood I noticed a lot of discrepancies,” said Hall. The family had to leave the neighborhood to shop, for instance, and grass grew in sidewalk cracks more than on lawns. But young Hall found his refuges: a safe home, a loving mother, and an attentive grandfather “who schooled me...