Lyda Moore Merrick

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Lyda Moore Merrick
Born
Lyda Vivian Moore

(1890-11-19)November 19, 1890
Hayti, Durham, North Carolina
DiedFebruary 14, 1987(1987-02-14) (aged 96)
Resting placeBeechwood Cemetery (Durham, North Carolina)
EducationFisk University
Known formagazine founder and editor
Notable workThe Merrick/Washington Magazine for the Blind
Parent

Lyda Moore Merrick (November 19, 1890- February 14, 1987) was an advocate for blind people and the founder of the The Merrick/Washington Magazine for the Blind, a national publication addressing the needs of black people with visual impairments.

Early life[edit]

Lyda Vivian Moore was born on November 19, 1890, in her family's home in Durham, North Carolina in the Hayti neighborhood.[1] She was born into a prominent black family in North Carolina to Sarah McCotta "Cottie" S. Moore (née Dancy)[2] and Aaron McDuffie Moore.[3][4][5][6] A.M. Moore was a founder of the North Carolina Mutual and Provident Association, one of the oldest black-owned businesses in the United States, and Cottie Moore was a niece of prominent Black Republican John C. Dancy.[4][5] Lyda was the elder of two daughters.[1]

Moore attended Whitted School in Durham through the ninth grade, graduating as valedictorian. She then attended the Scotia Seminary, a Freedmen's school.[1][7] At eighteen, she matriculated at Fisk University, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1911 with a degree in music.[1][8][2] Moore then attended Columbia University, studying art.[1][7]

In 1916, Moore married Ed Merrick, son of John Merrick,[3] joining the two prominent families in what a local newspaper called "a social event of state-wide importance."[7] Their wedding was attended by W. E. B. Du Bois and Charlotte Hawkins Brown, and many prominent community members.[7] They had two daughters.[1]

Career and community roles[edit]

Merrick was very involved in her community. In August 1933, she sat on a six-member committee, including Charles Clinton Spaulding, and Louis Austin lobbied the all-white Durham school board on behalf of Black school needs.[9]

Merrick became the board chair for the Durham Colored Library, Inc. in 1949. She also sat on the Lincoln Hospital Board of Trustees.[1]

Merrick was an accomplished portraitist.[10] Several of her works are displayed in buildings named for their subjects.[1] She was also a pianist. She gave private piano lessons and played the organ at St. Joseph's African Methodist Episcopal Church.[11]

Merrick was friends with Madie Hall Xuma. Their friendship linked the Durham Black community with South African community, joining them in against Jim Crow and apartheid. Merrick raised money in Durham to support Xuma's work in South Africa.[11]

Creation of The Merrick/Washington Magazine for the Blind[edit]

In 1922 the Moore family temporarily took care of a baby, John Carter Washington.[12][8][13] Washington had been born without eyes and "ears that barely worked."[12] In 1949, Merrick created a library club and resource center at the Durham Colored Library, the Corner for the Blind.[14][13] The program was successful, and membership grew.[14] However, the Stanford Warren Library did not have sufficient materials for the blind of interest to the Black community.[15] Merrick and Washington founded the The Negro Braille Magazine in 1952.[3][1] This publication was the first to cater to the needs and interests of blind African Americans.[13] The magazine included excerpts from leading Black periodicals, selected by Merrick, translated into Braille.[15] The magazine was published by the Durham Colored Library, Inc. (now the Stanford Warren Library), which had been founded by her father.[6] She served as its editor for eighteen years.[7] During this time, she also endeavored to find funding for the magazine, often taking on the expense herself rather than charging a subscription fee from the often in-need readers.[3][13][15] At its height, the magazine reached international circulation.[14] When Merrick stepped down as its editor in 1971, the Stanford Warren Library trustees took over it, publishing it semi-annually.[15] Around 1980, the periodical was renamed The Merrick/Washington Magazine for the Blind.[2]

Death and burial[edit]

Merrick died on February 14, 1987.[12] She is buried with the Moore family at the Beechwood Cemetery.[1]

Awards and legacy[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hill-Saya, Blake (2020-03-02). Aaron McDuffie Moore: An African American Physician, Educator, and Founder of Durham's Black Wall Street. UNC Press Books. ISBN 978-1-4696-5586-4.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Smith, Jessie Carney (1992). Notable Black American Women. Gale Research. ISBN 978-0-8103-4749-6.
  3. ^ a b c d Willie, Charles V.; Lane, Jolene A. (2001). "The Role of Fathers in the Lives of Black Women of Achievement". Phylon. 49 (3/4): 203–217. doi:10.2307/3132629. ISSN 0031-8906. JSTOR 3132629.
  4. ^ a b Biographical Sketches of E. R. Merrick and Aaron McDuffie Moore (circa 1967 and undated). North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company Archives, ca. 1885–2008 and undated, Box 31. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University.
  5. ^ a b Brown, Leslie (2008). Upbuilding Black Durham: Gender, Class and Black Community Development in Jim Crow South. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 35, 118.
  6. ^ a b "Dr. Aaron McDuffie Moore: Establishing African American Rural Schools in North Carolina - Museum of Durham History". Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  7. ^ a b c d e Wilson, Emily Herring (September 1992). "In This Dark World and Wide". Hope and Dignity: Older Black Women of the South. Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-56639-017-0.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Lyda Moore Merrick,96, Founder Of A Magazine For The Blind" (PDF). Durham Morning Herald. February 15, 1987.
  9. ^ Gershenhorn, Jerry (2018-02-06). Louis Austin and the Carolina Times: A Life in the Long Black Freedom Struggle. UNC Press Books. ISBN 978-1-4696-3877-5.
  10. ^ Vann, Andre D. (2017). African Americans of Durham County. Arcadia Publishing. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-4671-2646-5.
  11. ^ a b McDonald, Thomasi (2023-05-05). "Durham's Hayti Heritage Center Will Examine Black Women's Activism During Apartheid and Jim Crow". INDY Week. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  12. ^ a b c Johnson, Juanita (2021-05-21). The Audacity Code: Coloring in Black Outside the Lines. Hybrid Global Publishing. ISBN 978-1-7358014-1-4.
  13. ^ a b c d Leonardo, Dália (2012-09-30), "Merrick, Lyda Vivian Moore", African American Studies Center, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.39291, ISBN 978-0-19-530173-1, retrieved 2024-02-19
  14. ^ a b c "Elna Spaulding, Lyda Moore Merrick, and Mary D. B. T. Semans". And Justice for All: Durham County Courthouse Art Wall. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  15. ^ a b c d e Anderson, Jean Bradley (2011-05-09). Durham County: A History of Durham County, North Carolina. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-4983-9.
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