14 Facts About Geneva Mercer

Geneva Mercer was an American artist from Alabama.

Geneva Mercer was posthumously inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1989.

Geneva Mercer was born in the small community of Jefferson in Marengo County on January 27,1889.

Geneva Mercer's parents were Thomas Barton Mercer and Emma Elizabeth Berry.

Geneva Mercer attended the local village school, where she modeled her first sculpture, a crude red clay bust, at the age of nine.

Geneva Mercer's teacher recognized that she had a natural talent and obtained modeling wax and a book on sculpting for her.

Geneva Mercer completed high school in 1904 and went on to attend the State Normal School at Livingston, now known as the University of West Alabama.

Geneva Mercer asked her if she would intern at his studio.

Geneva Mercer served as his apprentice from 1907 to 1909 and would remain as his assistant until his death in 1935.

In 1909 Geneva Mercer left Alabama with Moretti and his wife, Dorothea Long Moretti, and relocated to New York City.

Once there, the Morettis and Geneva Mercer occupied a large villa and studio in Sanremo.

Geneva Mercer continued to operate his studio for some time after his death, producing many of her own works there.

Geneva Mercer later returned to the United States and eventually settled in Demopolis, Alabama, near her birthplace.

Geneva Mercer died there on March 2,1984, and was buried in the Jefferson Cemetery.