Résumé

Merriwether first attended barber school in TX after high school. He served in the US Navy for a brief time before attending college at Howard University in Washington, DC.

Structural Plan Examiner, City of Seattle, Building Department, Seattle, WA, 1947-c. 1952.

Merriwether commenced work as a real estate developer in 1949, building a series of apartment buildings during the next several years. According to his entry on the web site Black Past.org, "Merriwether built his first new apartment building, the 18-unit Chrystal Arms followed by the Chrystal Plaza, and another 18 units the next year. Both buildings were named for his daughter, Chrystal. These were soon followed by three more apartment buildings with a total of 54 units." (See Secret Charles-Ford, Black Past.org, "Merriwether, Raymond (1924-2011)," accessed 05/11/2018.)

In 1952, Merriwether purchased a newspaper, The Pacific Leader, that served the local African-American community. Through this newspaper, Merriwether campaigned for equal access to work opportunities for a range of workers.

Partner, [Raymond] Peck and Merriwether, Architects and Engineers, Seattle, WA, c. 1966-1971. This firm had its office at 1266 Mercer Street in Seattle, in 1970. Historian Secret Charles-Ford has characterized the work of Peck and Merriwether, "The firm had a broad range of designs that included custom homes, office buildings, hospitals, nursing homes, restaurants, apartments, warehouses, etc. Peck & Merriwether designed and built projects that contained over 260 apartment units and 630 nursing home beds for their own account. Several of the apartment buildings were named in honor of black personalities: Carver House, Bethune Manor, Langston House, Charles Drew and Kings Court. All of the convalescent home buildings—Merri-Haven, Merri-Vista, Merri-Crest, and Merri-Acre—were named for Merriwether. To assist young African American businessmen to pursue larger business opportunities, Merriwether leased the multi-million dollar convalescent homes to three young black men who later bought them and enjoyed several years of successful operation." (See Secret Charles-Ford, Black Past.org, "Merriwether, Raymond (1924-2011)," accessed 05/11/2018.)

Principal,Ray Merriwether & Associates, Architects and Engineers, Bellevue, WA, 1971- .

Professional Activities

Merriwether joined the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1966.

College

B.S., Civil Engineering, Howard University, Washington, DC, 1943-1947.

B.Arch., Washington State University, Pullman, WA.

M.Urban Planning, University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Seattle, WA c. 1958. While at the University of Washington, Merriwether worked with Myer "Mike" Wolfe, who founded the program in the College of Architecture. (See "Urban Planning," Yearbook of the University of Washington, College of Architecture, 1957-1958, n.p.)

Relocation

Raymond Merriwether was born in Taylor, TX, 34 miles northeast of Austin.

Beginning in 1947, Merriwether lived in Seattle, WA, a city that actively employed redlining of its African-American residents.

He moved from Seattle to Kirkland, WA, in 1962, an area that was not yet highly developed, but was beginning to attract suburban development. In the 1950s, a number of architects began to move to the Little Finn Hill neighborhood of Kirkland, for example.

Spouse

He married Barbara Merriwether with whom he was wed for 31 years.

Children

He and Barbara had two children, Clyde Raymond Merriwether and Chrystal Merriwether Weinberg.

Chrystal married John J. Weinberg in Clark County WA, on 07/28/1974. Clyde married Jacquelyn Dora in King County on 08/02/1980.

Biographical Notes

In 1965, Merriwether and 10 others founded the Alpha Omicron Boule of the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity.

In his spare time, Merriwether liked to golf, play bridge and travel. (See Secret Charles-Ford, Black Past.org, "Merriwether, Raymond (1924-2011)," accessed 05/11/2018.)