Music

Mercer’s Archives contains roughly 50 hymnals, ranging in date from the early 1800s to the present day.

The Ken Medema Collection consists of contracts for events, correspondence, sheet music, books, and audio-visual materials (in a variety of formats) spanning Medema’s 40+ year career as a musician, beginning in 1973. Medema is a blind Christian musician who performs in a wide variety of venues, from local congregations to charity fund-raisers, to high school and university campuses, to denominational youth gatherings, to universally televised religious programs, to corporate conventions, to annual assemblies of national organizations.

Jesse Mercer, the namesake of Mercer University, first published his "The Cluster of Spiritual Songs, Divine Hymns, and Sacred Poems" in 1800 as a collection of roughly 150 hymns. Mercer revised and expanded the work several times and the text ultimately had eleven editions published. "The Cluster of Spiritual Songs" is considered one of the most important hymn collections from the South during the period from 1800 to 1835.

The Caroline Paul King Papers contain materials related to King’s career as a musician and music teacher (1928-1970), including programs, correspondence, news clippings, photographs, certificates, and adjudicators’ comment sheets from competitions and festivals. There is also a folder of newspaper clippings and programs relating to King’s family, 1950-1998.

Capricorn Sound Studios in Macon, GA is most closely associated with the Allman Brothers Band, which recorded significant portions of three albums there, as well as other Southern Rock and Alt-Rock bands. Mercer University acquired Capricorn in 2016 and relaunched the studio. Mercer’s Archives contains materials from the studio, including posters, promotional materials, and photographs.

Tift College was a women’s college that operated in Forsyth, Georgia from 1849 to 1987. There is a small collection of sheet music used by the students from the first half of the 20th century.

The Lois Lantz Papers primarily consists of music and theatre programs collected by Lantz during her lifetime. These programs include Lantz’s performances and those that she attended at Indiana University, Tift College, and Mercer University. Lantz taught at Tift College from 1950 to 1987 and at Mercer University from 1987 until 1996. She retired from Mercer in 1996 as an Associate Professor of Music Emerita.

The Arthur L. Rich Papers contains materials, including scrapbooks, from Mercer's School of Music.

There have been several items published by the university related to music, including:
Allan and Rosemary McCorkle Music Building Programs
Choral Union and Glee Club Publications
Department of Music Handbook
Department of Music Programs
Mercer University Artist Series
Music at Mercer
Note-ables
Calendar of Concerts
Events
Townsend School of Music Brochures and Programs