John Merson (AC 1966) Papers, 1960-1968
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Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Sarang Gopalakrishnan. 2003-06-24
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Merson Papers
Creation of Merson Papers
Time of Creation of Merson Papers
Merson, John C.
Biographical History for: Merson Papers
Biographical Note John Cox Merson was born in Washington, D.C. in 1944. He grew up chiefly in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and graduated from the Kent School, Connecticut, in 1962. As an undergraduate at Amherst he majored in Political Science, was President of Student Council in his Junior year (1965) and participated in wrestling, crew, and cross country. In 1965 after his Junior year, Merson withdrew from Amherst without receiving a degree. He enlisted in the Marine Corps, undergoing basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, and Camp Pendleton, California. In May 1966 he shipped out for a tour of duty in Vietnam as part of the 7th Marine Regiment, 3rd Battallion, K Company, 3rd Platoon. After a year of combat duty, Merson returned to the U.S. in May 1967. Upon leaving the military, Merson enrolled at the University of North Carolina; he later earned an MBA degree at Harvard Business School. He has worked as an administrator at Lenoir Rhyne College, Hickory, North Carolina, under the auspices of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. In the 1970s Merson entered the field of management consulting in New York, working actively with educational institutions.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The bulk of the papers consist of Merson's letters written home to family members during Marine Corps basic training and combat duty in Vietnam, 1965-1968, in which he describes conditions in that country, his thoughts about the war and his plans for his life after the military. Also included are a journal kept by Merson during his undergraduate days at Amherst and an undated notebook, written sometime after his military service, that records changes in Merson's views on the Vietnam War. Although his letters home do not reveal many of his personal views about the politics of the war, the later notebook clearly indicates his weakening support for it.
Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975--Sources.
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United States. Marine Corps. Division, 1st. Regiment, 7th. Battallion, 3rd. Kilo Company. Platoon, 3rd.--Sources.
Amherst College. Class of 1966. Merson, J.
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series
Series 1: AMHERST COLLEGE, 1962-1965
Directory of Freshman Class of 1966 (2 copies) 1962
Journal 1963 Apr-1965 Feb
Series 2: CORRESPONDENCE, 1960-1968
Correspondence, chiefly outgoing 1960-1962
Letters to father from Amherst College (includes also some undated letters) 1963 Oct-1964 Apr
Correspondence, chiefly outgoing 1965
Correspondence, chiefly outgoing 1966 Jan-May
Correspondence, chiefly outgoing 1966 Jun-Dec
Correspondence, chiefly outgoing 1967
Letters by Merson printed in Amherst Student and Greensboro (N.C.) Daily News 1967 Mar
Correspondence, chiefly outgoing 1968
Series 3: NOTES ON VIETNAM WAR, [1968?]
Notes on Vietnam War ca. 1968
Series 4: PERSONAL AFFAIRS AND MISCELLANEOUS, ca. 1961-1968
Wyoming 1961-1963
Vocational preference scores [1962?]
Photograph of Merson (Lenoir-Rhyne College) n.d.