Swayne Hall occupies a central position on the campus of Talladega College, set north of West Brattle Street and east of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Its main facade is dominated by a full-height projecting portico, with four fluted Doric columns supporting an entablature and pedimented gable.

[3] The building is named for General Wager Swayne, a Union Army general during the American Civil War who also served as the appointed military Governor of Alabama during the early days of Reconstruction, serving from 1867 to 1868.

Talladega College is one of a small number of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that resisted trends of the late 19th and early 20th century to focus the education of African Americans on vocations, and maintained a focus on the liberal arts.

For many years it was the only school in Alabama at which African Americans could get an undergraduate education, and was one of the most successful HBCUs at sending its students on to graduate-level programs.