Harlem in the Hamptons 2016 Honors Civil Rights Pioneers Drs. Kenneth & Mamie Phipps Clark

Harlem Cultural Archives is recognizing Drs. Kenneth B. and Mamie Phipps Clark, and the 70th anniversary of their agency, Northside Center for Child Development, at the annual Harlem in the Hamptons event on Saturday, August 13.

Billed as a “Hamptons casual” affair in the style of an old-fashioned church picnic, Harlem in the Hamptons promises an afternoon of food, fun and camaraderie with culinary delights provided by Hamptons Catering, craft beer and ales by Harlem Brewery, wine and spirits from Black Hawk Imports and music by DJ Henry Blackwell.

The Clarks are being honored for their significant accomplishments in psychological and casework services, and for their extensive contributions to the Civil Rights movement. The couple were the first African Americans to obtain doctoral degrees in psychology from Columbia University, and Kenneth B. Clark went on to become the first African American tenured full professor at the City College of New York, the first African American to be president of the American Psychological Association and the first African American appointed to the New York State Board of Regents.

In addition, the Clarks opened the first full-time child guidance center in 1946, offering psychological and casework services to families in the Harlem area. Their Northside Center for Childhood Development provided a place to conduct experiments on racial biases in education. The Clarks used these experiments to contribute to the Civil Rights movement by helping them testify as expert witnesses in several school desegregation cases, including Brown vs. Board of Education, which ended legal segregation in public schools in 1954.

Harlem Cultural Archives’ Dr. Elaine Shulman, a student mentored by Dr. Kenneth Clark, will present a plaque to Northside CEO Thelma Dye, PhD on behalf of the Harlem Cultural Archives and the Honorable Judge W. Franc Perry. Dye will also be presented several proclamations from different elected officials who represent Harlem.

The Harlem Cultural Archives mission is to create, maintain and grow a remotely accessible, online and interactive repository of audio-visual materials documenting Harlem’s varied multicultural benefactions. These materials include Harlem’s storied past and its continuing contributions to the city and state of New York, the nation and the world. The Archives’ executive board comprises Co-Executive Directors Glenn A. Hunter, Keith A. Hunter, MD, and Ken Sargeant.

This is the fifth year that the Harlem Cultural Archives has collaborated with Harlem in the Hamptons founders Jackie Vaughn, Beryl and Harry Banks and Gladys Barnes in celebrating the contributions of such achievers as Dr. R. Chester Redhead, Dr. Oliver Holder, Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall, Harlem Hellfighters, Judge W. Franc Perry and the Mid-Manhattan Branch of the NAACP.

Harlem in the Hamptons will take place on Saturday, August 13 from noon–5 p.m. at the Eastville Community Historical Society Heritage House, located at 139 Hampton Street in Sag Harbor. Admission is $30 per adult and $10 for children—RSVP hcarsvp@gmail.com. To learn more about Harlem Cultural Archives or to donate, visit harlemcultural.org.