Dr kenneth clark biography definition wikipedia

Kenneth Bancroft Clark — , an eminent American social psychologist, educator, and human rights activist, is well known for his expert testimony in the consolidated school desegregation cases known as Brown v. Board of Education. The social science testimony of Kenneth Clark was a significant factor in the Court's decision, and secured his place in the historical record among social psychologists whose research has influenced significant social change in the twentieth century.

Kenneth Clark was born in the Panama Canal Zone on July 24, , and lived there until he was five years of age. Miriam Clark supported her two children working as a seamstress in New York 's garment district. Kenneth came of age in Harlem during its political and cultural zenith in the s. Kenneth was educated in the desegregated public elementary and junior high schools of Harlem.

His mother encouraged the intellectual pursuits and academic education of her son, and advocated for his admission to George Washington High School, where he graduated in That same year he became a naturalized U. Clark received his B. While a graduate student and teaching assistant in the psychology department at Howard University, Clark met and married Mamie Phipps, from Little Rock , Arkansas.

The two went on to become the first and second African-American students to earn doctorate degrees in psychology from Columbia University in New York.

Where was kenneth clark born

It was Mamie Phipps-Clark's master's thesis at Howard University, titled "The Development of Consciousness of Self in Negro Pre-School Children," that initiated the couple's extensive intellectual collaboration throughout their professional careers. They studied how young children's race affects their self-concept and self-esteem.

Between and , the Clarks published their innovative research in the Journal of Social Psychology and other scientific journals. This led to an award of a Rosenwald Fellowship in that supported their continued investigations on self esteem in black children. He authored and collaborated on more than 16 books, and published numerous research papers and journal articles.