Today In History: Remembering Mamie Phipps Clark

I'd always had an interest in children. Always, from the time I was very small. I'd always thought I wanted to work with children, and psychology seemed a good field.

-- Mamie Phipps Clark, from "The Dig", Howard University

Eminent social psychologist, activist, and Teachers College alumna Mamie Phipps Clark was born April 18th, 1917 in Hot Springs, Arkansas to Harold H. Phipps, a physician and resort manager, and Katy Florence Phipps, a homemaker.  She enrolled at Howard University in 1934 where she concentrated on math and physics to graduate magna cum laude. She pursued psychology at Howard University, where she researched race consciousness, before going on to Teachers College, Columbia University, where she earned a Ph'D entitled, Changes in Primary Mental Abilities with Age. Dr. Mamie Clark's master's work later inspired the Doll Study,  co-conducted with her husband and leading psychologist Kenneth Bancroft Clark, to explore the racial preferences of Black children during the 1940s -- experiments that impacted the end of racial segregation in public schools via the Brown versus Board of Education decision in 1954.

Together, the Clarks founded the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem in 1946, as well as Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (HARYOU) in 1962.  Northside was the first and only organization in New York City that provided mental health services to African American children -- offering psychological testing, psychiatric services, social services, and academic services. It became a center of activism and advocacy for Harlem and its residents. From 1948-1974, it was lodged within the New Lincoln School, and experimental and demonstration school of Teachers College.  Clark ran Northside until her retirement in 1979.  

In addition to being highly involved in the community, Dr. Mamie Clark taught at Yeshiva University, as visiting professor of experimental methods and research design from 1958 to 1960. She was appointed as a Trustee of Teachers College in 1969, and passed away on August 11th, 1983 at the age of 66 years. A Fellowship Fund was established in the Clarks' name in 1993.

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.

• Dr. and Mrs. Clark Share Columbia's Butler Medal. (1966, Oct 19). New York Times (1923-) 
• Columbia Honors Dr. Clark and Wife for Aiding Tots. (1966, Oct 29). Afro-American (1893-) 
• University Women's Prize Goes to Dr. Mamie Clark. (1973, Jun 16). New York Amsterdam News (1962-) 
• Cummings, J. (1976, Nov 01). Harlem Center Aids Disturbed Children: Northside Marks 30 Years of Offering Therapy and Remedial Classes to the Emotionally Troubled.  New York Times (1923-) 
• Northside Center Honors Dr. Mamie Clark. (1979, Oct 27). New York Amsterdam News (1962-) 
• What Do Blacks Think of Themselves? (1980, Oct 31). Philadelphia Tribune (1912-) 
• Ebony Survey Reveals Blacks' Self-Image. (1980, Nov 01). Michigan Chronicle (1939-2010) 
• Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark, Noted Psychologist Dies. (1983, Aug 20). New York Amsterdam News (1962-) 
• Smothers, R. (1983, Aug 12). Mamie Clark Dies; Psychologist Aided Blacks. New York Times (1923-) 
• Moss, B. (1983, Nov 05). If You Ask Me. Afro-American (1893-) 

Tips:

• Clark, Mamie Katherine Phipps. Changes in Primary Mental Abilities with Age / by Mamie Phipps Clark : No.291-300 1944-45. New York (State): Archives of Psychology, 1944. e-book.  Also issued as Pd. D., Columbia University.
• Clark, Mamie Phipps. Mamie Clark. New York, N.Y.] : Columbia University Libraries, 2006.  Oral history and transcripts.
• Clark, Mamie. The Reminiscences of Mamie Clark, Alexandria, VA : Alexander Street press, 2003. 
• Gordon, Edmund Wyatt. Toward Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Underprivileged Minority Group Children in the Harlem Community of New York City : A Program of Organization and Function for the Harriet Tubman Clinic for Children.  Ed'D. Teachers College, Columbia, 1957. Closed Stacks Dissertations ; HQ773 .G67 1957.
• Markowitz, Gerald E, and David Rosner. Children, Race, and Power : Kenneth and Mamie Clark’s Northside Center. First Routledge paperback edition. New York: Routledge, 2000. Stacks ; HV3185.N7 M37 2000.
• Pickren, Wade E, Donald A Dewsbury, and Michael Wertheimer. Portraits of Pioneers in Developmental Psychology. 1st ed. New York: Psychology Press, 2012. e-book.
• Office of Public Relations. Mamie Phipps Clark Faculty File. N.p., 1969.  Teachers College Digital Collections.
• Northside Center for Child Development Records, 1947-1972. New York Public Library.
• Kenneth Bancroft Clark Papers, Library of Congress.

Images:

• Article from TC Week (May 2, 1969) , from the Mamie Phipps Clark Faculty File, Courtesy of Teachers College, Columbia University
• Poster Image:  Mamie Clark, 1958, Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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