Giving children security. Mamie Phipps Clark and the racialization of child psychology

During the 1930s and 1940s, social psychologists became increasingly well-known among progressives battling race prejudice. By the early 1950s, African American psychologist Kenneth Bancroft Clark had become deeply involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's battle against segregated education in the South. By this time, his wife, who is less well-known in the annals of history, was developing her own reputation as the guiding spirit behind Harlem's Northside Center for Child Development. Her work at the center helped define an increasing interest in the psychology of children of color. This article examines the individual and social contexts of Mamie Phipps Clark's life and argues for greater attention to the dynamics of race and gender in the history of psychology.