Content area
Full Text
The Life and Work of Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark (1917-1983)
Most research studies in the field of early childhood education are based on the works of prominent men like Jean Piaget and John Dewey. While their contributions to the field are undeniably important, there are other stories-especially those of women scholars-that have not been prominently told (Clifford 2014). Even more neglected is the work of African American women researchers and scholars. This article describes the foundational research of Mamie Phipps Clark, an African American scholar in the 20th century.
Clark had a remarkable career of over 40 years as a scholar, an early childhood educator, a humanitarian, and a philanthropist in Washington, DC and New York City (McLean 2005; Aldridge & Christensen 2013; Loder-Jackson, Christensen, & Kelly 2016). She was a pioneer researcher in her own right who worked determinedly for generations of children and women, preparing the way for school integration in the United States (Christensen & Wilson 2018). Most significantly, she was the originator of and a collaborator with her research partner and husband, Kenneth Bancroft Clark, on the renowned 1930s and 1940s doll studies (K.B. Clark & M.P. Clark 1939a, 1940; M.P. Clark 1939; Christensen & Wilson 2018); these studies were indispensable to the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that outlawed segregation in public schools in the United States (K. Clark & M. Clark 1939b; Loder-Jackson, Christensen, & Kelly 2016).
Mamie Phipps Clark's research forever changed the trajectory and cause of public education in the United States. Early childhood educators today can emulate Clark's work by developing culturally responsive classrooms where all children are welcome and where children's identities are valued and celebrated.
The doll experiments
Clark's research interest in children's identities started in the summer after her graduation from Howard University in 1938. Working as a secretary in the law offices of Charles Houston, she witnessed the work of Thurgood Marshall and other civil rights lawyers who would later be instrumental in Brown v. Board of Education (Loder-Jackson, Christensen, & Kelly 2016; Christensen & Wilson 2018). This experience influenced her academic career, leading to a graduate degree in psychology at Howard and a master's thesis on how preschool-age African American children developed their sense of...