NATIONAL MINORITY/BIPOC MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH - FEATURE OF THE WEEK No. 2 (7.10.23)

 

                                                             

                                                           FEATURE OF THE WEEK

Mamie Phipps Clark, Ph. D. and Kenneth Bancroft Clark, Ph.D.

Mamie Phipps Clark was the first African American woman to earn a doctorate degree in psychology from Columbia University. She previously earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Howard University. Her experience in college and specifically graduate-level courses helped her realize the shortage of psychological services available to the African American community and other minorities.  The Clarks are best known for the famous “Doll Study” in which more than 200 Black children participated. Both Mamie and Kenneth Clark worked on this study, providing invaluable evidence in favor of ending school segregation in the supreme court case Brown vs. The Board of Education, citing that school segregation was psychologically harmful to black children.

Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark's dedication and passion for adequate mental health services for all prompted Dr. Clark to open her own agency to provide comprehensive psychological services to the poor, blacks, and other minority children and families.  In February 1946, Dr. Clark and her husband opened the doors of “The Northside Center for Child Development” for those in the Harlem area.  She worked in the center counseling and providing other psychological services from 1946 until 1979 when she retired.  Although retired, Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark served on different advisory boards and was still very active within her community.