Swift 2015 Reunion Banquet: Changing Attitudes to Include Young People

CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO MAKE THEM LARGER

Alumni of one of the area's oldest schools gathered on the weekend of May 30, 2015 to commemorate the past and celebrate the future.

The 2015 Swift College-High School Reunion culminated with a fancy banquet held at the Price Public Community Center in Rogersville, Tennessee on Saturday night, amid tall school stories, excellent food and  renewed friendships.


BELOW IS THE ARTICLE WRITTEN BY REV. SHELDON LIVESAY OF THE ROGERSVILLE REVIEW NEWSPAPER

At one time, the stately Swift Administration building on the north side of Main Street faced off towards the Rogersville Synodical College on the south side, testifying to the importance that Rogersville placed on education in the early part of its history.

After business meetings during the day, graduates and family gathered for a banquet at the former renovated high school, now called Price Public.  Amidst hugs and laughter, fond memories were exchanged in the form of stories about teachers and events whil attending Swift.  This year, several younger relatives attended the reunion and were intrigued as grandparents toured them through the Swift Museum, which is located in one of the old classrooms of Price Public.

After some reminiscing and dinner, Carolyn Trammell-Xox, the current Swift Alumni president, who was moderator for the evening, introduced the keynote speaker Mary Katherine Saunders.  Saunders is a former student of Swift and resident of Rogersville.  Saunders is a graduate of ETSU with a masters from Radford University, lives in Radford with a clinical degree and is a licensed counselor, certified in Substance Abuse.

CLICK HERE TO HEAR PART OF MARYH KATHERINE SAUNDERS' INSPIRING SPEECH TO THE GROUP:

Calvin Sneed also spoke to the group.  He is working on a special project with several local alumni groups called the Great Golden Gathering 2015 Reunion.  It is a celebration on August 29th at the Holiday Inn, Bristol Convention Center to commemorate 50 years since the closing of African-American high schools across East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, and the integration of students into the mainstream schools.  The purpose of the Great Golden Gathering 2015 is to relive good times, according to Sneed.  He pointed out that people would be able to reminisce about their football and basketball days, academic accomplishments and share other historical stories.

Sneed said "the goal of the big reunion is to reunite people, once rivals on the athletic and academic gridirons, but still were always considered by each other as family and close loved ones.  We are reaching out to all former alumni of the African-American schools in upper East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, to come together for a program of historic remembrance and honor, and to proudly hold up the banners of our storied schools, gone.. but not forgotten."  The website for more information is located at www.sonsanddaughtersofdouglass.org.  Updates will be added to the news pages.

Carolyn Trammell-Cox, after the reunion shared with Sneed, "I feel our Swift reunion and all reunions are important for our young people.  They preserve our legacy and heritage for them.  A lot of our young people have no idea about Swift, what we did at Swift, what a wonderful education we received, or its place in our community.  It's important for our young people to know where their ancestors came from.  The reunions are a celebration of that heritage.  I heard a statement once.. 'you can't know where you're going, until you know where you've been' and I think our young people need to know where we've been as a school and why we are here today."

CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE ALUMNI SING THE SWIFT ALMA MATER:




"We have a lot of new faces here for the reunion," Trammell-Cox says, "but sadly a lot of people are gone from us since the last one.  It's only right that we transition the banner to our young people to carry the charge of Swift onward.  This reunion reinforces that.  If we don't preserve our history and hold important reunions like this, that history is going to be gone forever."

Swift College operated from 1863 to 1955, but the facilities continued to be used by grammar and high school students until 1963.  Swift School was once a vital part of Rogersville life and economy.

In the days following the Civil War, Presbyterian Missionaries established a number of schools and colleges for African-Americans throughout our region.  Swift College was one of those colleges founded in 1863 by Reverend William Henderson Franklin.

Initially there were only 25 students enrolled that first year, but by the turn of the century, 225 students were attending the school.

CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE ALUMNI SING THE SWIFT SCHOOL SONG:




By 1913, new dorm wings were added to house additional students and Swift was acclaimed regionally as a School of Excellence, offering high Christian ideals and an advanced liberal education,that included music, arts and training for specialized vocations involving commerce and social service.

Many war veterans attended Swift for training after they returned from active duty.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A PHOTO ALBUM OF THE 2015 SWIFT REUNION BANQUET (AND BE SURE TO CLICK THE AUDIO SPEAKER ON---THE BACKGROUND MUSIC IS WONDERFUL!:




CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SWIFTIE ALUMNI GETTING THEIR GROOVES ON AT THE BANQUET:








THE ALUMNI CELEBRATION CONTINUES INTO THE NIGHT.......