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] 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.
Its first African American principal was Charles Duncan, a graduate of Fisk University.
[7] Tuition for Montgomery students was free, those from neighboring areas paid $1.