Kenneth B. Clark, Ph.D.

1973 Solomon Carter Fuller Award Recipient

Lecture Title: Acceptance Speech for Solomon Carter Fuller Award

Professor Clark began his academic journey at Howard University, initially focusing on political science. He made history by becoming the first African American to earn a doctorate in experimental psychology from Columbia University in 1940. Alongside his wife, Mamie Clark, he established the North Side Center for Child Development in 1946, a pioneering institution offering mental health and social services to children in Harlem. Concurrently, Professor Clark served as an esteemed educator and professor at the City College of New York, where he also achieved the distinction of being the first Black president of the American Psychological Association.

During the 1940s and early 1950s, the Clarks conducted groundbreaking studies known as the doll studies, involving over 200 children aged three to seven. Their research, later replicated by other scholars, revealed the psychological toll of segregating black children in separate schools. Professor Clark's expertise led to his involvement in pivotal legal battles, including providing testimony in three of the four cases central to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. In recognition of his influential contributions, Professor Clark was honored as the inaugural recipient of the Solomon Carter Fuller Award in 1973.