John Merrick (1859-1919) was an African-American entrepreneur born in Clinton, North Carolina who founded the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. Merrick was born into slavery and raised by a single mother. He began working in business and entrepreneurship early with barbershops, and he involved the community in his businesses. He eventually founded not only the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, but many other companies, such as banks, in the Raleigh-Durham area.
References
- Andrews, Robert McCants (1920), John Merrick. A Biographical Sketch., Durham, N.C.: Press of the Seeman Printery, <http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/andrews/menu.html>
The above is available online through Documenting the American South (DocSouth), a digital publishing initiative sponsored by the University Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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