The Life and Legacy of Dr. Kenneth B. Clark: The History of an African-American Psychologist

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Dr. Kenneth Bancroft Clark was born on July 14, 1914 in the Panama Canal Zone to Arthur Bancroft Clark and Miriam Hansen Clark (Jones & Pettigrew, 2005). Dr. Kenneth Clark died May 1, 2005 and his survived by his daughter, son and three grandchildren (Jones, 2005). When Kenneth Clark was just four years of age, his parents divorced and young Kenneth moved with his mother and sister to Harlem, New York (Jones, 2005). Though Miriam was a poor and single mother, she provided the means to see her children excel in education (Jones, 2005). Kenneth Clark attended mostly black public schools in New York City (Jones, 2005). During this time period, which was in the early to late 1920s, many African-Americans were not attending four-year universities, but were going into trades after completing high school (Jones, 2005). Miriam Clark had much higher aspirations for Kenneth than for him to acquire a trade (Jones, 2005). Miriam Clark transferred Kenneth to George Washington High School in Manhattan to receive an education that would prepare him for college (Jones, 2005). In 1936, Kenneth Clark graduated from Howard University with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in psychology under the direction of Francis Cecil Sumner, the first African- American to receive a doctorate in psychology (Jones, 2005). Kenneth Clark continued his education and became the first African-American to receive a doctorate degree in psychology from Columbia University (Klein, 2004). While at Columbia University, Clark met Mamie Phipps, to whom he married in 1938 (Jones, 2005). In the following years, most of Dr. Kenneth Clark’s research was conducted with his wife, Mamie Clark, whom also received her doctorate in psychology at Columbia University (Jones, 200... ... middle of paper ... ...parate but equal”, they were not at all equal and gave black students less challenging work (Klein, 229). Clark believed that integrating schools would allow for equal opportunity for minority students and would hopefully close the gap of racism. Dr. Clark’s ideas greatly influenced the Brown case, in which Brown won and schools were integrated. In the 1960s, the Civil Rights movement was in effect, schools were being integrated and minority groups were beginning to take a stand for their rights in America. During this time, the American Psychological Association (APA) struggled to identify and represent those identifying as a minority and activist groups involved in social justice (Pickren & Tomes 2002). Due to Clark’s involvement in the Civil Rights movement and the Brown case, he was appointed the first black president of the APA in 1971 (Pickren, 2002).

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