J. Mercer Burrell was a state legislator from New Jersey in the 1930s. He was born in Richmond, Virginia. He represented teenagers wanting to establish the sorority in Newark, New Jersey. He served in the New Jersey State House in 1933 and 1935. He represented the "Trenton Six". In 1947, Dr. J. O. Hill said the Essex County Colored Republican Council was being represented by Burrell as it sought to change the bill of rights.