Initially named Mercer Institute after prominent Baptist Jesse Mercer, Mercer University was founded in 1833 by a group of Georgia Baptists, including Adiel Sherwood and Billington Sanders. The original site of Mercer University was Penfield, Georgia, where it remained until 1871.
These original ledgers from Mercer Institute/University were maintained by the Steward and include information on the university’s finances, as well as discipline records.
Mercer University course catalogs from 1846 to the present. In addition to providing descriptions of classes offered for that academic year, the catalogs provide information such as admission requirements, cost of tuition and fees, important dates, faculty and staff lists, the history of the university, student organizations, and more.
Note: There are several years in which course catalogs were either not published or not preserved, including prior to 1846 and the majority of the 1860s.
There is a digital collection of materials related to Mercer’s Penfield campus on URSA. The majority of these materials are photographs taken after Mercer’s move to Macon, including those of the annual “Pilgrimage to Penfield” event.
Mercer University was created by the Georgia Baptist Convention. As a result, prominent early Mercerians were also active in regional Baptist churches, including Shiloh Baptist Church in Greene County and Penfield Baptist Church. You can find find mentions of these figures, including Billington Sanders and Jesse Mercer, in the minutes of these congregations. The Shiloh Baptist Church minutes are available on microfilm in Mercer's Archives. The minutes of the Penfield Baptist Church are digitized and transcribed online through the Historic Rural Churches of Georgia Project.