Scope and Content Note
The papers of Hugh Heyne Smythe (1913-1977) and Mabel Hancock Murphy Smythe (1918-2006) span the years 1895-1997, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period between 1960 and 1990. The collection focuses on the work of Hugh H. Smythe, a sociologist and diplomat, and Mabel M. Smythe, an economist and diplomat, and consists of nine series: Correspondence, Foreign Service File, Academic File, Consultantships and Other Positions, Conferences, Writings, Subject File, Miscellany, and Additions. Included in the papers are correspondence, memoranda, reports, minutes, lectures, speeches, writings, newspaper and magazine clippings, and other material pertaining to the Smythes' careers.
The largest portion of correspondence in the collection is found in the Correspondence series, which is general in nature. More specific subject-related correspondence is located in other series. The Correspondence series contains letters to and from African American writers, intellectuals, historians, and those active in foreign affairs and educational and cultural exchanges, particularly between the United States and Africa. Prominent correspondents include Ralph Bunche, Kenneth Bancroft Clark, W. E. B. Du Bois, Lorenzo J. Greene, Patricia Roberts Harris, Langston Hughes, Thurgood Marshall, James H. Robinson, and Elliott P. Skinner. Subjects discussed range from family and personal affairs to professional matters. The Smythes' annual holiday newsletters provide synopses of the major events in their personal and professional lives over the years. Throughout the collection are lengthy letters in which Hugh Smythe presented opinions in great detail on topics such as African Americans and American foreign policy, career opportunities for African Americans in the foreign service, and the appreciation of cultural differences.
The Foreign Service File documents the involvement of the Smythes with American foreign policy. Their activities relating to the United States Advisory Commission on International Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and various advisory commissions for the United Nations provided them with experience in foreign affairs at a time when few African Americans were employed in the foreign service. Although Hugh Smythe had begun applying for permanent professional positions at the State Department shortly after receiving his doctoral degree in 1945, it was not until twenty years later that he succeeded in this effort with his appointment by President Lyndon Johnson as ambassador to Syria. Of particular interest are Hugh Smythe's ambassadorial files on Malta and Syria and those of Mabel Smythe on Cameroon. The files on the Bureau of African Affairs constitute a major portion of the series and reflect Mabel Smythe's activities in this branch of the State Department. Other files in the collection documenting the struggle to break the racial barrier at the State Department include the Congressional Black Caucus in the Correspondence series, the Association of Black American Ambassadors in the Academic File, and African Americans in the foreign service in Africa in the Consultantships and Other Positions series.
Hugh and Mabel Smythe also contributed to the civil rights movement through their scholarly endeavors. They worked for the abolition of de jure as well as de facto discrimination and for the establishment of equal opportunities for African Americans and other minority groups. Teaching in Japan in the early 1950s expanded their worldview regarding the individual in the context of society and culture, and the issue of multiculturalism arose throughout their professional careers.
Material from their teaching positions is located in the Academic File. The largest portion of Hugh Smythe material in this series documents his tenure as professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and contains lecture notes and material related to his writing and speaking activities. Mabel Smythe's positions as Melville J. Herskovits professor and associate director of the Program of African Studies at Northwestern University are represented by files which document her work in establishing the interdepartmental graduate management internship program and her efforts to bring various academic disciplines into a unified program that offered practical experience in the field.
The Consultantships and Other Positions series contains files documenting the Smythes' considerable activity as consultants. A common goal of their consultantships was to address problems arising from mistrust and misunderstanding between ethnic or racial groups. Representative topics include racism, school desegregation, Arab-Israeli conflicts, the plight of refugees, women's issues, the improvement of local health and economic conditions, educational development, African and African American studies, and the role of government in guaranteeing civil rights and liberties to the individual. Files of particular interest include those dealing with Hugh Smythe's involvement in the Sahel-Sudano project and his and Mabel Smythe's positions as research assistants with the NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in the 1940s and 1950s. Also in this series are files documenting Mabel Smythe's work with the Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corporation and the Phelps-Stokes Fund. Both reflect her efforts to integrate the African American perspective into mainstream American academic culture, primarily through educational projects and cross-cultural exchange programs. Files pertaining to the Leadership and World Society (L.A.W.S.) Black English project, sponsored by Encyclopaedia Britannica and Phelps-Stokes, contain several articles written by Mabel Smythe in the field of sociolinguistics. Files for board memberships and committee hearings are also contained in this series.
The Conferences series reflects Hugh and Mabel Smythe's participation in seminars, workshops, committee meetings, study groups, and panel discussions. Subjects include African and African American issues, American foreign policy, African Americans and American foreign policy toward Africa, educational and cultural exchange, the Middle East, the United Nations, racism, women's issues, multiculturalism, the plight of refugees, developing nations, political justice, and careers for minorities in international affairs.
Both Hugh and Mabel Smythe were prolific writers and public speakers, and the Writings series constitutes a large portion of their papers. Topics in their speeches, articles, and books include Japan, Thailand, African and African American issues, educational and cultural affairs, the Middle East, American foreign policy, and women's issues. Of particular note are the manuscripts of Hugh Smythe's doctoral dissertation, Patterns of Kinship Structure in West Africa, and Mabel Smythe's book with Alan B. Howes, Intensive English Conversation, written while she was in Japan, and her editorial work on The Black American Reference Book and Curriculum for Understanding. The couple's major joint work, The New Nigerian Elite, is well documented. The series also contains a manuscript on ethnography in Dahomey by Melville J. Herskovits, Hugh Smythe's doctoral advisor at Northwestern University.
The Subject File is composed entirely of material relating to African and African American topics, the majority of which pertain to organizations promoting educational and cultural exchanges, assistance in health and education, and scholarly research. Of particular interest are the files of the African-American Institute, the African-American Scholars Council, and Operation Crossroads Africa. The latter organization, founded by James H. Robinson with the assistance of the Smythes, served as a model for the Peace Corps.
The Miscellany series consists of material relating primarily to the private lives of the Smythes, including appointment calendars, awards and honors, biographical information, high school and college material, military service records, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, and files on various family members. Files relating to career moves document efforts by African Americans to enter the professions prior to enactment of civil rights legislation in the 1960s. The series also includes speeches, writings, photographs, and other material of W. E. B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes, for whom Hugh Smythe worked as a research assistant in the 1940s. Photographs are arranged throughout the collection according to subject.
The Additions series is comprised of a 2003 Addition and a 2023 Addition. The 2003 Addition contains material from the Smythes' ambassadorial service in Cameroon, Malta, and Syria and disparate material about Hugh Smythe. Most of the addition, however, concerns the activities of Mabel Smythe during the 1980s and 1990s, especially her work at the State Department in Washington, D.C., and on the boards of Spelman College and the Refugee Policy Group. The 2023 Addition consists largely of family and personal papers related to Mabel Smythe and her mother, Josephine Dibble Murphy. This addition also documents the Smythes' experience in Japan in 1951-1952 and contains correspondence between the couple preceding their 1939 marriage.
The National Security Classified series consists of correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, reports, office files, and subject files removed from the Foreign Service File and the 2023 Addition.