Swayne College, founded as the Swayne School, was a school for African American students in Montgomery, Alabama. The school operated from 1868 to 1937. Built in 1865[1] and dedicated in 1869, it was named for General Wager Swayne[2] who led the Union Army in Alabama after the American Civil War, and later oversaw the Freedmen's Bureau in the state. He helped establish schools for African Americans in Alabama.[3]
History
The school was located at 632 Union Street, near Grove Street, on a site submitted by Elijah Cook and was run by the American Missionary Association.[4][5][6] George Stanley Pope was the school's first principal. Its first African American principal was Charles Duncan, a graduate of Fisk University.[2]Richard Bailey writes that the school was among the first to utilize the "bush school" strategy, where educators sent the school's best students into the community to teach other African-American children.[7] Tuition for Montgomery students was free, those from neighboring areas paid $1.[7]