Katie Beatrice Hall (1938–2012), Democrat from Indiana, served the U.S. House of Representatives as the first African American from the state of Indiana from 1981 through 1985 and introduced a bill to make the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a national legal public holiday. The bill passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. Born Katie Beatrice Greene in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, Katie earned a bachelor's degree from Mississippi Valley University and a master's degree from Indiana University. She taught in the Gary, Indiana schools before running for public office, first as a state representative and then a state senator, a position she held for nine years before running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.