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(Who Are Achieving Distinction In Various Lines Of Endeavor.)
Who Are Achieving Distinction In Various Lines Of Endeavor.
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Tobias was born on February 1, 1882 in Augusta, Ga. He was the son of Fair J. Robinson, a coachman, and of Clara Belle Robinson, a domestic worker. He lived with, and was brought up by, a friend of his mother because both his parents had live-in jobs.
From 1895 to 1898 Tobias attended Paine College Preparatory Academy and then entered Paine College, from which he received the B. A. in 1902.
He continued his education at Drew Theological Seminary, which awarded him the B. D. in 1905.
In 1900, while still a student at Paine, Tobias was ordained a minister in the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church.
While in the country he had a one-hour meeting with Mohandas Gandhi. The experience influenced him profoundly, and he came away ". convinced Gandhi is the greatest spiritual leader of our time. " He also said that "no teacher has ever made the impression on me as Gandhi because he was the living embodiment of what he taught. "
He was the first African-American awarded an honorary degree from New York University, and received honorary degrees from the Theological Institute (Georgia), Morehouse College, the Jewish Institute of Religion, and the New School for Social Research.
After graduating from Drew, he taught Bible literature at Paine College until 1911. In that year he became student secretary of the International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). His responsibilities involved visiting nearly all the countries of Europe, including the relief areas (1921). Also in 1921 he was a delegate to the Pan-African Congress in Paris.
Tobias rose in the YMCA hierarchy. In 1923 he was named senior secretary of the colored men's department of the organization. Again his job entailed extensive travel--this time throughout Europe, the Near East, and Asia. Some of his impressions were subsequently recorded in the pamphlet Travel Notes, which covered the period December 1936-March 1937. Tobias attended the Conference on Race Relations held at Mysore, India, in 1937.
Although the principal focus of Tobias' post in the YMCA was to build a black constituency for the organization, he expanded its scope by serving as a director of Paine College, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Council on Race Relations, the National Council of Churches, and many other groups. His contacts and the prestige of his post made him in great demand as a speaker at commencements and other important public events.
In 1946, Tobias resigned from the YMCA to become the first black director of the Phelps-Stokes Foundation, a post he held until 1953. He traveled extensively in Africa for Phelps-Stokes, visiting Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, Nigeria, and the Belgian Congo. Also in 1946 he was appointed to the Committee on Civil Rights by President Harry S. Truman.
Tobias was one of the authors of To Secure These Rights (1947), the committee's report, which many consider a major document on the treatment of minority groups and remedial legislation for them. By 1953 he was calling for the end of all racial discrimination by January 1963, the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation.
He was appointed alternate member of the United States delegation to the United Nations. At his confirmation hearings he was asked about affiliations with groups that had been labeled subversive, particularly the Council on African Affairs. His answers apparently were satisfactory, for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved his appointment.
He died in New York City.
(Who Are Achieving Distinction In Various Lines Of Endeavor.)
In 1945, Tobias participated in the development of the New York State Fair Employment Law, and the following year he became director of the Phelps-Stokes Fund.
At the United Nations, when chided by a Communist delegate for his support of American policy even though racial discrimination existed in the country, he replied: "Yes, there are bad laws and racial discrimination in certain American states. But American Negroes are free to protest. "
Tobias was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
On May 10, 1908, Tobias married Mary C. Pritchard, who had also been a student at Paine; they had two daughters. Mary Tobias died in 1949. On March 31, 1951, Tobias married Eva Arnold.
