"Kenneth-Bancroft-Clark"(July 24,1914-May 1,2005)

He was to Miriam Hansom Clark Hanson Clark and Arthur Bancroft Clark in the Panama Canal Zone.The Clarks,originally from the West Indies,had come to the Canal Zone to work for one of the largest employers in the region,the United Fruit Company.Desperately wanting to give her children a chance for an education,Miriam separated from her husband and moved to Harlem,New York so that Kenneth and his younger sister Beulah could be educated in the United States.Arthur stayed behind believing that discriminating in the United States would hinder his obtaining a position comparable to his job at United Fruit.Kenneth graduated from George Washington High School in 1931 and receive bachelor & master degrees from Howard in 1935 & 1936,respectively.He then enrolled at Columbia University and in 1940,became the first African American to earn the doctorate in psychology at the University.


Kenneth taught at Hampton University from 1940-1941.A year later,he moved to the City College of New York,becoming the institution's first permanent African-American faculty member.He married Mamie Phipps,a high school teacher in 1938.In 1946,the Clarks founded the North Side Center for child development which provided mental health and social services for children in Harlem,New York.


In the 1940's and early 1950's the Clarks studied over 200 children from ages three-seven in what would be called doll studies.These studies showed that African American children,when asked to choose a doll most like themselves,disproportionately choose the the white dolls.The study also indicated that African-American children associated negative characteristics that African-American dolls and positive characteristics with the white dolls.Their work,replicated by other researchers,indicated that the isolation of African-American children in segregated schools generated psychological harm or damage.


Kenneth was enlisted by Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP legal team to provide testimony in three of the four cases leading to the decision by the U.S.Supreme Court in Brown vs.the Board of Education in 1954.using Kenneth's research,NAACP lawyers argued that racially separate educational facilities were psychologically harmful to African-Americans and thereby violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S.Constitution.


Over the next two decades Kenneth published numerous books and articles in the field of social psychology.His books included Prejudice and Your Child (1963),The Dark Ghetto:Dilemmas of Social Power (1965),and Chris in Education (1971).He was awarded numerous prizes including the NAACP'S Spingarn Medal in 1961.He retired from teaching in 1975.