ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Marcellus Hall was born in Annapolis as the son of a seamstress and an undertaker. He was one of six children.
At 15 he was driving a delivery wagon and he soon found himself as a bell boy at the Annapolis City Hotel.
He signed up for the Army in WWI. With that military background, when Hall came home he began working at the Naval Academy Mess Hall.
Marcellus Hall soon became the maître d' at Carvel Hall in Annapolis. Carvel Hall was the grand Hotel in Annapolis. Parents and dignitaries of the Naval Academy came to Carvel Hall. It was truly for the rich and famous. Marcellus had his finger on the pulse of Annapolis for more than 50 years at Carvel Hall from 1913 to 1965.
Annapolis historian, Janice Hays-Williams tells us Hall was well connected in the community, "If you wanted a job, call Marcellus Hall. Go knock on his door, go get a job and he wanted that for Black men. To you have a job, to be professional and to be the best you could be."
Slaves have been coming to Annapolis since the 1700's. Being a slave in Annapolis was a different experience than down south.
Many indentured workers in Annapolis work and sleep in the house as Whites. They learned skilled craftsmen jobs or worked as domestic servants. Hall used that decades of preparation and skill of serving people to his advantage.
"Our job was service, that's what we knew," and after he became so influential everybody knew Marcellus. He soon received a bigger title than maître'd, "He was called the Admiral. He actually had strips on his uniform."
Marcellus was famous for working the punch bowl. In classic form, Hall had everyone's needs covered, "One is spiked and one is not. It's your choice, he's going to serve you either one."
Many long time Annapolis residents have no idea where Carvel Hall was but, this is it, it's the grand Paca gardens behind the Paca House. This is where the once prestigious Carvel Hall once stood, "He was a legend like Paul Bunyan. He was the man in this community."
As Marcellus Hall lays to rest in his home town of Annapolis, he is remembered as a bigger than life man that made a community stronger by his actions and his expertise. His early years are not forgotten by the Naval Academy.
Joe Rubino is spearheading a project with the Naval Academy to remember all the people Hall touched, "He handled folks of all walks. From the four-star admirals and politicians to the midshipmen and their families. They had tea dances and things."
"At the Naval Academy there's only one admiral and that's the Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy. So, to have that local legendary title that's pretty significant."
As historians were looking at his grave site in Annapolis they realized a mistake has been made when they looked at his grave marker, "His name was Marcellus Hall and some how they dropped out the R. So, there is no R in Marcellus, so his name is incorrect."
Now, Rubino and other want to correct that mistake with a new marker. Hall was known to some many people the Academy.
He was the first African-American to give guided tours in Annapolis and he even had some bit parts in the movies. He truly is a renaissance man befitting of a proper grave stone, "Because he represents the history of Annapolis, African-American history, Naval Academy history, Naval History. So in one person there you have you have this kind of this iconic combination of all these great pieces of background that make him a really iconic historic figure."
