Swift Memorial College was a private

historically Black college Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

established by the Presbyterian church that operated from 1883 to 1952, in

Rogersville, Tennessee Rogersville is a town in and the county seat of Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. It was settled in 1775 by the grandparents of Davy Crockett. It is named for its founder, Joseph Rogers (pioneer), Joseph Rogers. Tennessee's second oldest ...

, United States. It was established after a state law ended access for African Americans to

Maryville College Maryville College is a Private college, private liberal arts college in Maryville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1819 by Presbyterian minister Isaac L. Anderson for the purpose of furthering education and enlightenment into the West. The colleg ...

. Like many other early HBCU's, the school curricula in the early years was focused on

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

and normal school; later it operated as a junior college. It also served as a boarding school. It was later closed after desegregation.

History

The state of Tennessee passed an extension of law in 1901 to their version of the 1870 Jim Crow law, which forced private schools such as Maryville College to expel their African American students. That same year in 1901, Maryville College trustees transferred USD $25,000 to Swift Memorial College, a quarter of the school's endowment.

The school was founded by Rev. William Henderson Franklin (1852–1935), who was the first African American to graduate from

(1880) in

Maryville, Tennessee Maryville is a city in and the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee. Its population was 31,907 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The Great Indian Warpath (which was used to build the route U.S. Route 411, US-411) was long ...

. It was named after Rev. E.E. Swift from

Allegheny City, Pennsylvania Allegheny City was a municipality that existed in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1788 until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located north across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh, with its southwest border formed by ...

, after his widow donated USD $1000. Swift Memorial College was supported by the Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen and Maryville College, and it expanded the campus in 1903 to include dormitories, and the following year in 1904 they began a four-year college curriculum. Franklin served as the school principal from the opening in 1883 until his retirement in 1926. In 1932, the Hawkins County School District and Swift Memorial entered an agreement to use Swift Memorial to teach Black public high school students. During this time period of segregation, the only public high school for Black students in the city was Price Public Elementary School (which now houses the Swift Museum) which acted as a feeder school for Swift Memorial.

Closure and legacy

Notable people associated with the school include Merl R. Eppse, who worked as a former dean; and William A. Scott Jr., the founder of the Scott Newspaper Syndicate who attended as a student. By 1955, the former campus buildings for Swift Memorial College were converted to community use and a school. In 1964, the building was demolished. The town of Rogersville has a historical marker in honor of the former school, erected by

Tennessee Historical Commission The Tennessee Historical Commission (THC) is the State Historic Preservation Office for the U.S. state of Tennessee. Headquartered in Nashville, it is an independent state agency, administratively attached to the Department of Environment and C ...

References

External links

* Video
The Swift Story: An African-American University
(2019), from

KERA-TV KERA-TV (channel 13) is a PBS member television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Owned by North Texas Public Broadcasting, Inc., it is sister to NPR member station KERA (90.1 FM), adul ...

/PBS {{DEFAULTSORT:Swift Memorial College African-American history in Appalachia Buildings and structures in Hawkins County, Tennessee Defunct black public schools in the United States that closed when schools were integrated Defunct schools in Tennessee Educational organizations established in 1883 Educational organizations disestablished in 1952 Historically segregated African-American schools in Tennessee Presbyterian schools in the United States Rogersville, Tennessee

History

Closure and legacy

See also

References

External links