Scope and arrangement
The collection contains documentation relating to Tobias' involvement with the Phelps-Stokes Fund and the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), as well as other items. Files for the Phelps-Stokes Fund consist of minutes of Trustees' meetings (1940-1944), and files from two Trustees' committees on which Tobias served: the Committee on Negro Americans in Defense Industries (1941-1942) and the Committee on Africa, the War and Peace Aims (1941-1943). Materials pertaining to the YMCA consist of three printed speeches Tobias delivered concerning the YMCA and African Americans in the workplace (1940-1946), and a publication about the contributions of African Americans to the YMCA. Other items in the collection are three letters Tobias wrote to W.E.B. DuBois. The collection also includes an autobiographical sketch in "Thirteen Americans: Their Spiritual Autobiographies" (1953), and some material related to Tobias following his death (1974).