hill was born in montgomery, alabama, on december 29, 1894, the son of one of the south's most distinguished surgeons, dr. luther leonidas hill. he was named after dr. joseph lister, the father of antiseptic surgery. following his graduation from the starke university school in montgomery, he entered the university of alabama at the age of sixteen and graduated four years later with a ba and law degree and a phi beta kappa key. while a student at the university of alabama, he was a member of delta kappa epsilon. he also founded the student government association (sga) and was its first president, the jasons senior men's honorary (which the university ceased recognizing in 1976 for its all-male policy, but which still taps forty men each spring on the franklin mound), and the machine (the local chapter of theta nu epsilon).