Clark, Kenneth B(ancroft) 1914–2005

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born July 24, 1914, in the Panama Canal Zone (now Panama); died of cancer May 1, 2005, in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. Social psychologist, educator, and author. Clark was a leading social psychologist well known for his 1965 book, Dark Ghetto: Dilemmas of Social Power, and for his influential studies, made with his wife, Mamie Clark, that showed the negative psychological effects of racial segregation. Born in what is now Panama, Clark was brought to the United States as a child by his mother in the hopes that he would receive a better education. He grew up in Harlem and continued his education at Howard University, where he earned a B.A. in 1935 and an M.S. in 1936. At Howard, Clark was influenced by his mentor, political science professor and future Nobel Prize winner Ralph J. Bunche. In 1940 he became the first African-American student to earn a doctorate in psychology from Columbia University. While at Columbia, he also worked with his eventual wife, Mamie Phipps, on her research into the self-esteem issues of black children. In their study, they used a set of dolls that were identical, except that some had white skin and some had brown skin. In test after test, they discovered that African-American children had been socialized to prefer and deem superior the white dolls. After graduating from Columbia, Clark spent a year as an assistant psychology professor at the Hampton Institute, followed by a year as an assistant social science analyst for the U.S. Office of War Information. In 1942 he joined the faculty at the City College of the City University of New York. He remained there for the rest of his academic career, retiring as professor emeritus of psychology in 1975. Clark came into the spotlight in the early 1950s, when his self-esteem studies came to the attention of Robert Carter, an attorney for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Carter believed he could use the Clarks' research to bolster his case that the "separate but equal" racial practices in America were detrimental to African Americans. In 1954 Carter brought this argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown vs. the Board of Education. The Clarks' research is often credited as an important factor in the court's declaration that segregation was unconstitutional. Encouraged by this ruling, Clark believed that he could help end the racial prejudices that were plaguing American society; however, he later realized that this viewpoint was naive. Several events led to this conclusion, including his failed attempt to persuade the Harlem school system to employ his integration suggestions during the 1960s, and another failed similar attempt with the Washington, DC, school system in the 1970s. After retiring from teaching in 1975, Clark began Clark, Phipps, Clark & Harris, a consulting firm with his family that advised businesses struggling with racial prejudice within their ranks. Despite the fact that Clark was not able to effect all of the changes he hoped to see in American society, he is still considered a highly influential figure in the civil rights efforts of the 1950s and 1960s. He earned many honors, such as the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award in 1985, and several honorary degrees. In addition to his highly respected book Dark Ghetto, he wrote numerous other works, including Prejudice and Your Child (1955; second edition, 1963), How Relevant Is Education in America Today? (1970), A Possible Reality: A Design for the Attainment of High Academic Achievement for Inner-City Students (1972), Pathos of Power (1974), and The Nineteen Eighties: Prologue and Prospect (1981).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, May 3, 2005, p. B10.

New York Times, May 2, 2005, pp. A1, A23.

Times (London, England), June 24, 2005, p. 67.

Washington Post, May 3, 2005, p. B4.