The Henry Lee Swint Papers date from 1933 to 1978 and are comprised primarily of correspondence, writings, and research notes. Swint carried on an extensive correspondence with students, former students, and colleagues at other institutions, mainly discussing research interests and personal concerns. A more limited correspondence with faculty and other colleagues at Vanderbilt contains information regarding administrative matters, including controversial subjects such as the 1960 dismissal of Divinity School student James Lawson for participating in civil rights demonstrations in Nashville. The collection also includes a fairly extensive file of speeches and lecture notes, book reviews, article manuscripts and offprints, correspondence regarding Swint's two books, and research notes on Vanderbilt's history.

The Swint Papers are organized into eight series, as follows: