Scope and arrangement
The collection consists of thirty-seven audio recordings comprising interviews with ten Black U.S. ambassadors to African and Caribbean nations. Since the collection's original formats are audio cassettes, many of the items contain two or more parts, one for each side of the cassette. They are arranged alphabetically and in sequence by part. There are multiple interviews per subject, referred to as sessions. The session number is included in the item scope and content.
The interviewees include: Samuel C. Adams, William Beverly Carter, Theodore R. Britton Jr., Mercer Cook, Edward R. Dudley, John H. Morrow, Charles J. Nelson, Elliot P. Skinner, Mabel M. Smythe, and Franklin Williams. The interview for Theodore R. Britton Jr. does not have an audio recording available. In the first interview session for Mabel M. Smythe, she details her husband Hugh H. Smythe's diplomatic career serving as a Black U.S. ambassador to Syria and to Malta. The primary period of service for the interviewees was from the 1950s to 1980s. A brief bio for each is included noting their countries of ambassadorship. The scope of the interviews range from subjects' early professional career, travels abroad, events which led to their entry into diplomatic service, their diplomatic career as ambassadors, family and personal history, careers and experiences, honors, and their perspectives on Black people in U.S. foreign service.