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Janet B. Scarborough Merritt was elected to represent the Sumter County (at the time, the 68th district) in the Georgia State
House in 1964. The only woman in the Georgia State House of Representatives when she was elected, and the first to represent
Sumter County, Merritt called herself a "full-time" representative. The topic of the role of women in government is thoroughly
documented throughout Merritt's speeches and writings. She served four terms in that position: she was elected again in 1966,
in 1968 (after reapportionment combined Sumter with Macon and Schley counties into the new 46th district), and in 1970. In
1972, after a second reapportionment, Merritt was defeated for re-election by her former colleague in the House, Oliver Oxford,
in a run-off. Merritt ran against Oxford a second time in the 1974 election, but was again narrowly defeated in a run-off.
The collection documents Merritt's campaigns, her time in the state legislature and her community activities including heavy
involvement in the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) Of particular note are materials documenting Merritt's ongoing
battle to change Georgia's state flag. In 1969, Merritt sponsored a bill to change the Georgia flag adopted in 1955, shortly
after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling, back to the 1879 version, which did not include the Confederate
battle flag. Included in the collection are speeches, notes, journals, correspondence, clippings, photographs, artifacts,
and audiovisual material.
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