Dr. William H. Franklin, the founder and president of Swift College, was one of the first black graduates of Maryville College, receiving his degree in 1881. Swift College was named for Elijah E. Swift, president of the denomination's National Board of Missions of Freedmen, a benefactor, and pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Penn. The private college served African-American students. After it was sold to Hawkins County in 1956, it became a public school for black students in grades one through twelve. W. E. Blevins was the last principal before desegregation closed the school in 1963. The main three-story building was torn down in 1964, and three buildings remain as office for Hawkins County schools.