[1] The family moved from Tennessee[4] to California after Archy Wall was transferred from New Mexico to San Francisco during the Spanish–American War,[1] settling in Oakland after his retirement from the army in 1900.

[2] There, Fannie Wall became a prominent community activist, taking part in several organizations promoting African American economic empowerment and antiracism.

[3] Wall was also involved in the King's Daughters Circle, the Sisters of the Mysterious Ten,[3] and the Art and Industrial Club of Oakland, of which she was president.

'[6] Wall became well known as a forthright and committed community activist, noted for - on multiple occasions - refusing to leave the office of Oakland mayor John L. Davies until her concerns were satisfactorily addressed.

[1] Plans to establish the Home had begun in 1914 with Wall and Hettie Tilghman, respectively President and Financial Secretary of the Northern Federation of California Colored Women's Clubs.

[1][3] The Fannie Wall Children's Home received funding from the Oakland Community Chest, a bequest from Theodore Dreiser, and from a former board member, Josephine Hutton.

'[10] Fannie Franklin Wall died aged 84[11] on 14 April 1944,[1] in her home at 6114 Telegraph Avenue in North Oakland,[11] which she left to her daughters.