Janet B. Scarborough Merritt papers, 1900-2006, (bulk 1962-1974).

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Janet B. Scarborough Merritt papers, 1900-2006, (bulk 1962-1974).

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/421112599

The Janet B. Scarborough Merritt Papers consist of correspondence, date books and notebooks, photographs, audiovisual materials, campaign memorabilia, publications, telegrams, and newspaper clippings relating to Merritt's political campaigns and tenure in the Georgia State House of Representatives (District 68 and, later, 46), from 1964 to 1972. Also reflected within the papers is her participation in The Order of Women Legislators ("OWLS"), for which she served as recording secretary, and the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.), for which she was Georgia's State Regent among other positions. Well-documented throughout the collection in correspondence, notes, and newspaper clippings are various legislative issues that Merritt sponsored and supported throughout her legislative career. Of particular note is Merritt's ongoing battle to change Georgia's state flag. The collection also includes correspondence, clippings, and speeches related to the hotly contested 1962 State Senate election between businessman Homer Moore (for whom Merritt campaigned) and peanut farmer Jimmy Carter. In 1965, racial tensions erupted in Americus after Warren Fortson, brother of Georgia's secretary of state Ben Fortson, called for a bi-racial committee; Merritt supported Fortson during this controversy. The collection contains clippings and many issues of the Voice of Americus newsletter, which carefully documented the push for integration in Sumter County; a two-hour DVD featuring extensive film footage of rallies and marches in Americus; and notes and correspondence related to the issues surrounding desegregation. Especially valuable are Merritt's 1991 reminiscences in which she reflects on this tumultuous period. The collection also contains some correspondence and clippings related to the Americus school system's difficulty implementing integration, and the movement in Americus to create private segregated schools; these items are available in the Legislative series and the Speech/Press series. A copious note-taker, Merritt's collection is a rich source of her personal opinions, personality, and style. Merritt's notes about a wide range of topics and her pocket calendars can be found in the Legislative series. Original audio recordings of interviews, campaign advertisements and jingles combined with memorabilia and photographs provide further insight into Merritt's campaign philosophy and the challenges of being a woman in politics during the 1960s.

20 boxes (17 linear feet), including 399 photographs, 23 negatives, 1 DVD, 2 audiocassettes, 6 quarter inch audiotape reels, and 1 8-track audiotape.

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7446025

Related Entities

There are 7 Entities related to this resource.

Merritt, Janet B. Scarborough, 1909-2000.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hx5177 (person)

Janet B. Scarborough Merritt was born in Americus, Georgia, on January 4, 1909 to Robert Henry Scarborough and Janet August Burton. At the age of five, Merritt moved with her family to Hawkinsville, Georgia, where she attended elementary and secondary school. Merritt attended several schools in the University of Georgia System and earned a degree in humanities from Valdosta State College. She held a life-time teaching certificate and taught in the public schools of Georgia. A true Renaissance wo...

Carter, Jimmy, 1924-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ph2fr6 (person)

Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.), thirty-ninth president of the United States, was born on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, and grew up in the nearby community of Archery. His father, James Earl Carter, Sr., was a farmer and businessman; his mother, Lillian Gordy, a registered nurse. He was educated in the Plains public schools, attended Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology, and received a B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946. In the Navy he became a ...

Fortson, Ben Wynn, 1904-1979

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gr1fst (person)

Valdosta State College

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6353bth (corporateBody)

Daughters of the American Revolution.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67694x7 (corporateBody)

D. A. R. chapters from Washington, DC and surrounding areas. From the description of Papers, 1948-1949. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 36009706 ...

Fortson, Warren Candler, 1928-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63z1vkr (person)

National Order of Women Legislators (U.S.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69p8fqb (corporateBody)

The National Order of Women Legislators was founded in 1938 when woman legislators from more than a dozen states assembled in Washington to establish a national group. The first meeting of the organization was a social one, a tea given by the organizing Connecticut group. This affair, attended by over thirty legislators, was followed by a business meeting at which participants formulated and approved by-laws and a constitution for a national organization. The group also chose an insignia of a sm...