Kenneth Clark (1914-2005)

Summary Label

Kenneth Clark was a famous African American Psychologist.

Kenneth and Mamie Clark were married African American Psychologists hat conducted research in children and were very active in the Civil Rights Movement.

Title

Kenneth Clark (1914-2005)

Date of Birth

July 24th, 1914

Date of Death

May 1st, 2005

gender

Male

Hometown or Region

Panama Canal Zone, Panama & New York, New York

Freedom Status

Male

Occupation

Psychologist

Biography

Kenneth (1914 – 2005) was an African American Psychologist specializing in child psychology whose research impacted the Civil Rights Movement. Kenneth was born in the Panama Canal Zone and raised in New York. He attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he met his wife, Mamie. They both studied under Francis Sumner, another influential African American Psychologist. Together, this trailblazing couple was important because of the milestones they set for future Black American Psychologists. Some of these milestones include Kenneth being the first African American to graduate with a PhD in Psychology. At the same time, his wife Mamie was the first African American woman to graduate with a PhD in Psychology, and their “Doll Test” research helped lawyers (Thurgood Marshall, Constance Baker Motley, Robert Carter, Charles Houston, etc) testify and win in the Supreme Court Case, Brown vs. Board of Education. The most important impact they left was the path they made for modern-day African American Psychologists, and helping to highlight the importance of African American children finding their sense of self. Kenneth Clark died on May 1, 2005 (age 90) in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

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Connected Historical Actor(s)

Charles Houston, Jack Greenberg, Robert L. Carter, Francis Sumner & Henry E. Garrett

Mamie Clark (1917-1983)

Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993)

Student Researcher

Maggie Barker