Henry Lee Swint (1909-1987) served on the faculty of the Vanderbilt University
History Department from 1939 to 1987. Born and raised in southern Alabama, Swint
received the Bachelor of Arts degree from Birmingham Southern College in 1929.
In 1930, Vanderbilt awarded him the Master of Arts in history and he embarked
on a college teaching career. Between 1930 and 1936, he taught at Louisburg
College in Louisburg, North Carolina (1930-1931), King College in Bristol, Tennessee
(1931-1934), and Middle Georgia State College in Cochran, Georgia (1934-1936).
He began work toward the Ph.D. at Vanderbilt in 1936. After completing his dissertation
on "The Northern Teacher in the South, 1862-1870" in 1939, he was
appointed Instructor in Vanderbilt's history department. He became an Assistant
Professor in 1942 and progressed through the ranks until 1971, when he was appointed
Holland N. McTyeire Professor of History. He held that chair until his death
on February 1, 1987.
Vanderbilt University Press published Swint's two books -- his dissertation (1941) and a second work entitled Dear Ones at Home: Letters from Contraband Camps (1966). Swint also wrote numerous book reviews and articles and served on the administrative board of the Andrew Jackson Papers. In 1969, the Executive Committee of the Board of Trust appointed Swint to research and write a history of Vanderbilt for the university's centennial celebration in 1975. Swint worked on the project from 1969 to 1977, but did not complete it. Paul Conkin took up the project again in 1982 and incorporated Swint's work into Gone With the Ivy: A Biography of Vanderbilt University (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1985).
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