Some 15,000 women are graduates of Mercy High School in southeastern Michigan. Since 1945, when it opened as Our Lady of Mercy High School in northwest Detroit, its graduates have embodied the school motto: “Women Who Make a Difference.” In 1965, the school moved from its original building on the Mercy College campus to a mid-century modern building 11 miles away in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills. The school was established by the Sisters of Mercy, a Roman Catholic religious order with 6,200 sisters worldwide. Among its graduates are luminaries in the arts, medicine, sports, business, government, and military service. The Mercy Marlins sports teams have won numerous state championships in swimming, basketball, hockey, softball, lacrosse, golf, and other sports. This book commemorates Mercy High’s 75th anniversary and reflects the impact of “Mercy Girls” on their communities, country, and around the world.
Patricia Montemurri is an award-winning journalist for the Detroit Free Press and the author of three other books about Detroit-area Catholic history, Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters of Michigan, Blessed Solanus Casey, and Detroit Gesu Catholic Church and School. The history of Mercy High School is illustrated here through captivating photographs from the archives of the Sisters of Mercy, the Mercy Lore yearbook staff, and the Mercy High Newsprint school newspaper staff, as well as from the scrapbooks of its alumnae.