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James Merritt
James (Jim) Merritt, a Northside native, joined the Colonial Drug sit-in of February 28, 1960 as one of the Chapel Hill Nine. He later fought in Vietnam, had a long career in public education, and in 2008 was appointed to the Chapel Hill Town Council after council member Bill Thorpe died.
Source: The Local Reporter: Jim Merritt (Orange Slices, February 9, 2021)
Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to James Merritt. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about James Merritt’s life and work. If you know a useful source, tell us.
Life and Orange County connections
Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 2 dated events in the chronology →
- The Chapel Hill Nine sit-in Nine Black young men held Chapel Hill’s first sit-in at Colonial Drug. People: Harold Foster, William Cureton, John Farrington, Earl Geer, David Mason Jr., Clarence Merritt Jr., James Merritt, Douglas Perry, Albert WilliamsTown of Chapel Hill
- The Town of Chapel Hill unveils the Chapel Hill Nine marker at the Colonial Drug site On the sixtieth anniversary of the sit-in the town dedicated sculptor Stephen Hayes's stone-based marker at 450 West Franklin Street, naming the nine students; four of them, Dave Mason Jr., James Merritt, Douglas Perry and Albert Williams, attended the unveiling. People: David Mason Jr., James Merritt, Douglas Perry, Albert WilliamsDocumenting the American South: Commemorative Landscapes, Chapel Hill Nine Memorial, Chapel Hill
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Books about James Merritt
More catalogs that show where copies are
- Chapel Hill Public Library (opens in a new tab) Public library in Chapel Hill
- Durham County Library (opens in a new tab) Public library next door in Durham
- UNC Libraries (opens in a new tab) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Duke Libraries (opens in a new tab) Duke University, Durham
- NC Cardinal (opens in a new tab) The State Library of North Carolina and public libraries across the state
Photographs, papers, and newspapers
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Research sources
Additional research sources
Other catalogs to search and local organizations that can help.
- Background context: Marker: The Chapel Hill Nine Historical Marker Database (HMdb.org)
- Background context: Historical Marker Honoring Chapel Hill Nine to be Added to Franklin Street Chapelboro (97.9 WCHL)
- Read contemporary evidence: DigitalNC newspapers: 148 Orange County pages naming James Merritt DigitalNC Searchable pages from historic Orange County newspapers
- Search beyond the index: NC LIVE: prepared search for James Merritt NC LIVE An advanced search of the state’s shared databases already scoped to Orange County’s places and this subject; edit it freely, and sign in through your North Carolina library to read
- Ask locally: Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection (OCPL) The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
- Ask locally: Local History Help Hours and request form OCPL Local History Liaison The library’s Local History Liaison helps in person most Mondays, 12 to 3, at the Main Library, or by the online request form
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