David L. Swain was governor of North Carolina, president of the University of North Carolina, and a state legislator. The collection includes correspondence relating to Swain's position as president of the University of North Carolina; his interest in the history of North Carolina in the colonial, Revolutionary War, and early national periods; and his activity as a collector of historical manuscripts. Also included are scattered items on politics and on railroad promotion in North Carolina and South Carolina. The few items of earlier and later dates are miscellaneous and family materials, with little relating to Swain's active political career. Papers include correspondence with prominent state leaders and men of national importance in the fields of education and history, including William A. Graham, William H. Battle, William H. Haywood, Elisha Mitchell, John Motley Morehead, Thomas Ruffin, William W. Holden, Charles Phillips, and Cornelia Phillips Spencer. The volume, 1855-1868, contains accounts of debts owed to Swain and a list of his slaves. Also included are typed transcriptions of Swain correspondence, 1827-1868, probably prepared by former Southern Historical Collection Curator Carolyn Wallace as part of her research on Swain in the mid-1970s. These are not transcriptions of the original correspondence in these papers, but are likely transcriptions of original Swain materials held in the North Carolina Collection (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and elsewhere.
