06/19/2026
After Emancipation, formerly enslaved people, many with connections to Hampden-Sydney College, established “The Mercy Seat Community” on land south of campus. Some African American members left College Church and established their own Baptist religious community in 1867. For the next three years, funds were saved to buy land and build their church. A deed dated 1870 conveyed several acres of Slate Hill land from the Venable family to trustees of “the congregation of the Colored Baptist Church at or near Prince Edward Court House.” The church would later be named Mercy Seat Baptist Church. Generations of families have lived in the Mercy Seat Community and worked for Hampden-Sydney College, including members of the Brown, Evans, and Randolph families.
Today, Hampden-Sydney faculty and Mercy Seat Baptist Church members are collaborating on a CIC grant-funded research project to explore and reveal the shared history between our communities. Pictured in the second photo are Elliott Professor of History Caroline Emmons, Ewing Professor of Religion Mike Utzinger, and from Mercy Seat Baptist Church are Mr. David Miller and Mr. Danny Morton. Stay tuned for more information on the results of this research.
On Juneteenth, we acknowledge the profound contributions of Black people whose labor helped build and sustain the college. We continue the work to reveal and commemorate their lives. (Research credit: Mr. David Miller, Mr. Danny Morton, Dr. Ray Gaskins, Dr. Richard McClintock and Ms. Elizabeth Baker Starling)
