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Black History Month provides an opportunity to learn about and celebrate the contributions African Americans have made to society, including to mental health research and access to care. Representation in mental health is crucial for providing tailored treatment that recognizes the diversity in clients’ experiences, perspectives and beliefs. The following leaders in mental health have shaped – and continue to shape – our understanding of how the mind works.
The Early Pioneers in Mental Health
Mamie Phipps Clark, Ph.D. (1917-1983)
Mamie Phipps Clark, Ph.D., was born in Hot Springs, AR, in 1917. During her childhood, she attended segregated schools, later describing the education she received as deficient in numerous areas. Even so, she graduated from high school at a time when few African Americans did so, and she received offers and scholarships to two prestigious Black universities, including Howard University. There, she pursued a bachelor’s degree and later a master’s degree in psychology.
For her master’s thesis, which she titled “The Development of Consciousness of Self in Negro Pre-School Children,” Clark studied when Black children began to recognize a distinct sense of “self” and when they began to identify with a particular racial group and culture. She, along with her husband, designed and conducted what came to be known as “the doll tests,” which observed the effects racial discrimination and segregation had on Black children.
After completing her master’s degree, Clark worked as a secretary in the law office of Charles Houston, a prominent lawyer who played a significant role in dismantling Jim Crow laws and mentored Black attorneys who went on to win the historic Brown v. Board of Education case.
In 1943, Clark became the first Black woman to earn her Ph.D. in experimental psychology. Despite the roadblocks she faced throughout her career due to being Black as well as a woman, she contributed to research how racial discrimination and limited access to resources impact Black children.
Maxie Clarence Maultsby, Jr., M.D. (1932-2016)
Maxie Clarence Maultsby, Jr., M.D., was an American psychologist known for his works on emotional and behavioral self-management. He was born in Pensacola, FL, in 1932 and received his bachelor’s degree from Talladega College in Alabama in 1953. Following his undergrad, he attended Medical School at Case Western Reserve University, where he earned his medical degree.
In 1962, after serving in various settings as a general practitioner, Maultsby began working for several hospitals through a Psychiatric Residency, and later, a residency in Child Psychiatry. During this time, he also began training in Behavior Therapy.
In 1970, Maultsby joined the medical faculty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he went on to become an assistant professor in psychiatry. Additionally, he became the Director of the Adult Psychiatric Outpatient Program at the University of Kentucky. In 1973, he founded the Training and Treatment Center for Rational Behavior Therapy, where he formalized his unique approach to psychotherapy.
Through his therapeutic method, Maultsby shaped the current understanding of how the brain navigates emotional and behavioral self-control. He was dedicated to making mental health care and neuropsychology accessible to everyone, giving people the tools they need to understand and self-regulate their emotional responses to stress.
Paul Bertau Cornely, M.D., DrPH (1906-2002)
Paul Bertau Cornely, M.D., DrPH, was born in Guadeloupe in 1906 but grew up mainly in Harlem and later, Detroit. At a time when segregation kept many Black students from pursuing advanced degrees, Cornely attended the University of Michigan, where he pursued his bachelor’s degree, medical and public health degrees.
In 1934, Cornely joined the faculty of the Howard University College of Medicine, where he developed a program that addressed access to public health services in underserved communities. He visited historically Black colleges and universities across the country and observed the health and sanitation conditions of the health centers and other facilities on campus. He found that students faced overcrowding in dorms along with poor sanitary conditions in their dining halls, and they had limited facilities for studying or personal hygiene.
After traveling to HBCUs across the country, Cornely returned to Howard University and wrote a series of recommendations for improving conditions for students. Throughout his career, he dedicated his efforts toward reducing health care disparities among those in underserved communities. He published over 100 scientific articles, including those that explored how limited access to health care affects mental health.
Current Advocates for Mental Health
James P. Comer, M.D., M.P.H. (1934-)
James P. Comer, M.D., M.P.H., has served as Yale University School of Medicine’s Child Study Center’s Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry since 1976. He ranks among the world’s leading child psychiatrists and is recognized for his efforts to support the academic performance of children from minority and low-income backgrounds. To that end, he and his colleagues developed the Comer School Development Program in 1968. This program focuses on fostering a nonconfrontational, collaborative approach between parents and school staff to support scholastic success for at-risk students.
Initially, Comer worked with two schools in underserved communities. Compared to the city’s highest income schools, these two schools eventually had better attendance records and no serious behavior problems, effectively addressing the achievement gap between schools in more affluent regions versus schools in underserved neighborhoods.
In the 50+ years since the founding of the Comer School Development Program, its model has been implemented at over 1,000 elementary and high schools across 26 states as well as Washington, DC, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, Ireland and England.
In addition to developing the CSPD, Comer is a cofounder and past president of Black Psychiatrists of America, which continues to address the acute need, but persistent gap, for limited access to mental health services for African Americans.
In 2014, Comer was nominated by President Barack Obama for a prestigious position on the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.
Beverly Greene, Ph.D. (1950-)
Beverly Greene is a clinical psychologist specializing in the psychology of women as well as race and gender issues that affect mental health. She serves as a professor at St. John’s University’s Department of Psychology and is a prolific writer with roughly 100 psychological literature publications along with nearly a dozen books.
Greene’s study of mental health began with her undergrad degree at New York University in 1973. Upon graduation, she attended Marquette University’s doctoral program in educational psychology, though she was eventually forced to withdraw from her studies due to a brain tumor. Within a short time, she enrolled in Adelphi University’s Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, where she completed both her master’s and doctorate in clinical psychology.
After completing her education, Greene worked for the New York City Board of Education as a psychologist, and in 1982, she began work at the Inpatient Child Psychiatry Division at Kings County Municipal Hospital. Despite the fact that the majority of the hospital’s clients with African American, the hospital’s staff was predominantly white. Here, under the mentorship of Chief Psychologist Dorothy Gartner, Green began to develop courses that educated her colleagues on how to treat and serve members of the African American community. This sparked her interest in exploring cultural diversity in mental health through teaching and research.
Over the course of her career, Greene has received over two dozen national awards. Most recently, she was recognized by the American Psychological Association for her lifetime contributions to psychology, particularly for her work in feminist therapy and access to care for marginalized groups in a variety of health care settings.
While diversity in mental health has historically been lacking, countless Black men and women have made significant and lasting contributions to our understanding of how the brain works and is shaped by experiences. Their dedication has improved access to mental health resources to historically underserved populations and continues to promote compassionate, informed care.
