Correspondence, memoranda, reports, minutes, lectures, speeches, writings including the Smythes' joint work, The New Nigerian Elite (1960), newspaper and magazine clippings, printed material, photographs, and other papers relating chiefly to their diplomatic and academic careers. Includes material on their involvement with the U.S. Advisory Commission on International Educational and Cultural Affairs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and various United Nations commissions; Hugh Smythe's ambassadorships to Syria and Malta; Mabel Smythe's ambassadorship to Cameroon and her duties at the State Dept.'s Bureau of African Affairs; and their experiences in West Africa and Japan.

Also documents Hugh Smythe's position as professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and Mabel Smythe's position as professor and director of African studies at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.; their work for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Phelps-Stokes Fund, and the Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corporation; and their advocacy for the civil rights movement, multiculturalism, school desegregation, and the career advancement of African Americans at the State Dept. Other topics include Israeli-Arab border conflicts, the plight of refugees, women's issues, and the improvement of health and economic conditions in the United States. Other organizations represented include the African-American Institute, African-American Scholars Council, and Operation Crossroads Africa. Correspondents include Ralph J. Bunche, Kenneth Bancroft Clark, W. E. B. Du Bois, Lorenzo Johnston Greene, Patricia Harris, Langston Hughes, Thurgood Marshall, James H. Robinson, and Elliott Percival Skinner.