Page 75 - From the Outhouse 4 -21

75 | P A T R I C I A R A E M E R R I T T W H A T L E Y

Julia Rae Bryant Merritt

~ My Mother ~

~ A Socialite in the Shotgun House ~

She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

Proverbs 31:26 (KJV)

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
Proverbs 31:28 (NIV)

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD,
she shall be praised.

Proverbs 31:30 (KJV)

My mother, Julia Rae Bryant Merritt, was the daughter of Daisy Pearl Brown, and her father was Boyd Brown, who I never knew. Daisy

Pearl gave birth to two children. One was my mother, Julia Rae, born on October 29, 1913, in Columbia, South Carolina. Her older

brother was Samuel E. Boyd, who was one of Georgetown’s first barbers. He was also an excellent banjo player, and his band of string
players entertained audiences throughout Sanford and in neighboring communities.

My mother, Julia Rae, was educated in private primary and secondary schools, which included Florida Normal in St. Augustine, Florida,

and Bethune Cookman School for Girls in Daytona Beach, Florida. She attended Bethune Cookman College (now Bethune Cookman

University) and Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU). She graduated with a major in Elementary Education on August
15, 1951.