Mamie Phipps Clark
Personal Information
Born: 1917
Died: 1983
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: Black
Education
1938, BA Psychology, 1939, MA Psychology, Howard University; 1943, PhD Experimental Psychology, Columbia University
Professional Life
Field of Study: Social Psychology
Institution/Corporation: Northside Center for Child Development
Degrees & Memberships: Member of the Board of : American Broadcasting Companies,Museum of Modern Art, NY Public Library, NY Mission society, The Phelps Stokes Fund, Teacher s College at Columbia University; Commissioner of Palisades Interstate Park Commission; advisor to National Headstart Planning Committee
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1983, Candace Award for Humanitarianism, National Coalition of 100 Black Women; 1940,1941,1942, Julius Rosenwald Fellowships; 1966, Nicholas Myrray Butler Silver Medal, Columbia University (with husband, Kenneth B. Clark); 1973, American Association of University Women Achievement Award for Admirable Service to the Field of Mental Health
Achievements: Researched self-esteem and self-concept in African-American children, which was used in 1954 civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas; she & her husband were the first African Americans to receive PhDs in psychology from Columbia University; 1946, opened Northside Center for Child Development, the first center to offer mental health services to children in Harlem; defined race consciousness;
Helped desegregate schools in the US
She & husband, Kenneth Clark, conducted the famous "doll study"showing a majority of Black children preferred white dolls, classified Black dolls as "bad," & proved segregation gave African-American children a sense of inferiority & exposed internalized racism
She & Kenneth were the 1st African-Americans to obtain PhDs in psychology from Columbia University
Attended highly segregated schools including a Catholic elementary school
Her doll study research was used as evidence in the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v Board of Education; 1st social science research ever presented as evidence before the Supreme Court
1946, founded Northside Center for Child Development in the basement of the apartment building where she lived with a loan of $946 from her father; 1st center to provide therapy for children in Harlem
1962, collaborated with Kenneth to establish the Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited Program (HARYOU) to provide education & employment opportunities for youth in Harlem
Served as chairman of a housing company that built apartments in NYC