July is Minority Mental Health Month, a period dedicated to raising awareness about mental health in minority communities. This year, Vaya has chosen to highlight some of the pioneers of mental health care across minority populations.
Join us in our efforts to honor these distinguished individuals and to promote understanding and reduce stigma for all.
Black Pioneers of Mental Health
Mamie Phipps Clark, Ph.D. (1917-1983)
Mamie Phipps Clark was the first Black woman to earn a doctorate degree in psychology from Columbia University. She previously earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Howard University. Her experience in college and specifically graduate level courses helped Clark realize the shortage of psychological services available to the Black community and other minorities.
Clark conducted groundbreaking research on self-identification in black children. This work was later developed into the famous Clark Doll Experiment that exposed the implicit and negative effects of segregation for Black children. Dr. Clark was influential to the Civil Rights movement – her expertise allowed her to testify as expert witnesses in several school desegregation cases, including Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954.
James P. Comer, M.D., M.P.H. (1934-present)
James P. Comer is the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine’s Child Study Center. As one of the world’s leading child psychiatrists, he is best known for his efforts to improve the scholastic performance of children from lower-income and minority backgrounds, which led to the founding of the Comer School Development Program in 1968 within Yale’s School of Medicine.
Comer has focused his career on improving school restructuring and has been featured in numerous media and published in academic journals. He is a co-founder and past president of the Black Psychiatrists of America. Dr. Comer is the recipient of countless recognitions and holds over 48 honorary degrees. In 2014, Dr. Comer received a prestigious nomination by President Barrack Obama to serve on the President’s Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.
Hispanic Pioneers in Mental Health
George I. Sánchez, Ph.D. (1906-1972)
Reformer and activist George I. Sánchez is recognized for his contributions to educational opportunities, especially for Hispanic children. He served on the faculty of the University of New Mexico and held several concurrent teaching, chair, and dean positions at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) from 1940 until his death. Sánchez also acted as the 13th president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) while spearheading several landmark Civil Rights court cases focusing on equal educational opportunities for Mexican Americans. He was one of the first to challenge biased research on intelligence and opposing the use of racially inclined standardized tests based on non-proficiency in English.
Sánchez is remembered as a leading figure in the early Mexican American/Chicano movement, which culminated during World War II, after heavy involvement with and collaboration between Chicano Americans and Latin Americans through the Office of Inter-American Affairs. In 1998, the UT Austin Education building (SZB) was renamed in his honor.
Martha E. Bernal, Ph.D. (1931-2001)
American clinical psychologist Martha E. Bernal was the first Hispanic woman to receive a doctorate in psychology in the United States. She earned her doctoral degree at Indiana University Bloomington in 1962. Bernal’s clinical work focused on the assessment and treatment of children with behavioral problems. She also developed organizations with a strong focus on minority ethnic groups.
As a faculty member at Arizona State University, Bernal studied ethnic identity development among Mexican American children. During this time, she developed mechanisms used for measuring ethnic identity and the development of ethnic identity among Mexican American children. Eventually she became known nationally for displaying how behavioral interventions for children operate and the interventions’ ability to operate over time, as well as for developing the Ethnic Identity Questionnaire. Bernal and her colleagues adapted the Ethnic Identity Questionnaire to measure ethnic identity development.
Native American Pioneers of Mental Health
Carolyn Lewis Attneave, Ph.D. (1920-1992)
Carolyn Lewis Attneave is recognized as one of the most prolific scholars in the field of psychology. She is also one of the most well-known Native American psychologists; Attneave was the first Native American woman to get a degree in psychology in the United States.
Attneave worked initially for the Oklahoma State Department of Health, providing mental health services to seven Native American tribes before she moved to Philadelphia to focus on network therapy as an alternative to hospitalization. She was a founding member of the Boston Indian Council and what would become the Society of Indian Psychologists. She taught at Harvard University and the University of Washington. The American Psychological Association’s Carolyn Attneave Diversity Award is awarded in her honor.
Logan Wright, Ph.D. (1933-1999)
Logan Wright is the first known American Indian to serve as the president of the American Psychological Association (APA). Referred to as the father of pediatric psychology, Wright advocated for the use of behavioral interventions in pediatric care and specific guidelines for the administration of treatment to pediatric populations.
Wright also served as one of the founders of the American Psychological Society, the American Association for Applied and Preventive Psychology, and the North American Association of Masters in Psychology. He helped to found the Society of Pediatric Psychology, becoming its first president in 1969. Throughout his career, Wright has authored four books and an estimated 100 articles on medical and child psychology.
