Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Merrick (John) Collection
0188
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Pepperdine University. Special Collections and University Archives.
Title: John Merrick Collection
Identifier/Call Number: 0188
Physical Description:
18.5 Linear Feet
25 Hollinger Boxes, 3 Artifacts Boxes, and 5 Flat Boxes
Date (inclusive): 1948-2012
Abstract: John Merrick was elected Judge of the Malibu/Calabasas Judical District in 1964 and served on the bench until his retirement
in 1986. Judge Merrick was also heavily involved in the community of Malibu from the time he moved there in the 1940s and
started a number of important Malibu organizations. This collection contains a range of materials both in format and subject
related to his professional life as Malibu's Judge and his work in the Malibu community.
Physical Location: Collection in located in Payson 260, row 3
Language of Material:
English
.
Advance notice required for access.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated to Pepperdine Libraries June 3, 2021 by Brian Merrick.
The collection has been arranged into the following series: 1. Pre-Judgeship; 2. Election; 3. Judgeship; 4. Malibu; 5. Optimist
Club; 6. Pepperdine University; 7. Interests; 8. Family; 9. Joe Schiro.
John J. Merrick was born February 10, 1919 in New Haven, Connecticut the son of Irish immigrants. They soon moved to the Bronx
in New York City where he grew up and eventually earned his degree in journalism and worked as a reported for the Associated
Press. Merrick, like many men of his age at the time, felt the call to serve his country and enlisted in the U.S. Army in
Februray 1941. He found himself stationed in Southern California at a tank destroyer school. Merrick attained the rank of
Lieutenant and became commanding officer of a tank destroyer company.
Following his service, Merrick decided to stay in Southern California and used his G.I. Bill loan to buy the last available
beachfront lot at Latigo Bay in Malibu for $2,300 in 1946. Always interested in comedy, he spent some time writing jokes for
Edgar Bergen, a ventriloquist, for $70 a week while also being employed as a trust officer at a bank in Beverly Hills. Merrick
then decided to enroll in law school and graduated from the Southwestern School of Law and soon thereafter opended a law practice
in Beverly Hills in 1958.
Merrick's degree afforded him the opportunity to run for an open Judicial seat in Malibu/Calabsas in 1964. His campaign was
successful and he became the Judge of Malibu/Calabasas when it was only considered a part-time job. He would go on to serve
as Judge for 26 years. Merrick presided over tens of thousands of cases and became known as "the law west of Topanga." One
of the more notalbe cases he presided over was the Manson Murders. Judge Merrick signed the original search warrant to search
Spahn Ranch, the home of the Manson Family. He then presided over the initial hearing of Manson Family member, Susan Atkins
who was charged with the murder of musician Gary Hinmann. Judge Merrick's juducial crowning achievement came when he served
a brief stint on the California Appellate Court in the 1980s where he wrote several publish legal opinions.
Amidst all of his judicial responsibilities, Merrick found the time to serve the community of Malibu in other ways. He founded
a number of Malibu organizations including the Malibu Historical Society, Local Malibu Optimist Chapter, Malibu Art Association,
Pepperdine Crest Associates, Heart Association, and the Malibu Township Council. One of his finest achievements was helping
the Adamson House attain historic landmark status in order to save it from being turned into a parking lot. His love for his
surroundings shone through in the books he wrote about Malibu, the classes on Malibu history he taught at Santa Monica College
and Pepperdine University, and the time he spent hiking in the hills of Malibu taking in the scenery he knew all too well.
After retiring in 1986 he spent his remaining years as a "fill-in" judge in communities like Catalina and San Luis Obispo.
He also spent his retirement researching and writing about the Chumash, the first residents of Malibu.
John J. Merrick passed away on July 31, 2012.
[Box/folder# or item name], John Merrick Collection, Collection no. 184, Malibu Historical Collection Special Collections
and University Archives, University Libraries, Pepperdine University.
This collection contains materials from the life and work of John Merrick, former Judge of Malibu and a Malibu citizen heavily
involved in the community. Materials related to Merrick's professional life as a Judge include publications, promotional materials,
speeches, and correspondence related to Merrick's run for the open Malibu/Calabasas Judicial Seat in 1964 and publications,
photographs, and correspondence realted to his career as Malibu's Judge. Of note is a folder with documents about a contentious
1970s nudism case which Judge Merrick presided over, a recording of a speech he gave at the opening of the Malibu Civic Center,
and the certificate that confirmed his appointment as Judge in 1964 following his successful campaign.
Materials related more to Merrick's personal life include documents, photographs, and publications about the history of Malibu
collected by Merrick over the years. This also includes materials related to his efforts to preserve Malibu like a number
of documents about establishing the Adamson House as a historic landmark. There are also materials about various organizations
Merrick was a part of or founded like the Malibu Historical Society, The Malibu chapter of the Optimist Club, Pepperdine University
where he taught a class on Malibu history, and the Malibu Art Association. Additionally, he was interested in comedy so there
are a few materials related to sketches and clippings of comedic saying that he collected.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Malibu (Calif.) -- History
Malibu (Calif.) -- History -- 20th century
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Politics and government -- 20th century
Adamson House (Malibu, Calif.)
Correspondence
Photographs
Ephemera
Color slides
Scrapbooks
Audiocassettes
Audiotapes