The Doll Test – Exposing the Impacts of Racial Segregation

In the mid-twentieth century, researchers started examining African American children’s sense of racial identity, including how they perceived themselves relative to white children.  Husband and wife psychologists, Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Phipps Clark, conducted what is now known as the landmark “doll test” on students.  Their innovative research showed discouraging results, yet it played an influential role in American civil rights legislation. 

You’re invited to learn more about the legacy of the Clarks’ pioneering work at a special presentation at Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site on Wednesday March 22. 

Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Phipps Clark

Journalist Tim Spofford will discuss his new book What the Children Told Us, an account of the life and legacy of the Clarks.   In 1940, the Harlem psychologists received a grant to study African American pupils’ dawning sense of racial identity in the nominally integrated North (Springfield, Massachusetts) and in the strictly segregated South (Mamie’s hometown of Hot Springs, Arkansas). They used four similar baby dolls in their testing:  two brown dolls with hair painted black and two white dolls with hair painted yellow.   

The researchers found that two-thirds of the 250+ African American pupils tested preferred a white doll to a brown doll.  Some children even denied their race. “I look brown because I got a suntan,” said Edward D., nearly age 8, who preferred a white doll.  “I’m a white boy.” To the Clarks, these African American children had internalized the low opinion of their race in a segregated nation.   

The shocking test results quickly caught hold throughout America’s scientific and educational community.  The doll test eventually played a key role in the Brown v. Board of Education decision (1954), the U.S. Supreme Court case that desegregated public schools in America.  

During tomorrow’s presentation at the park visitor center, Spofford will highlight how the Clarks were directly linked to the 1957 desegregation crisis at Little Rock’s Central High School.  The researchers first got to know Daisy Bates, one of the nine African American teenagers seeking to attend the formerly all-white school.  Later, the couple “adopted” Minnijean Brown, the Black student expelled from Central High during the crisis. That allowed Minnijean to live with them and study for two years in a private school in Harlem and earn her diploma.  
 
Today, the Clark dolls are on exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. and at Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park in Topeka, Kansas. The Clarks’ experiment is still conducted today by students and scholars around the world.  

Inviting African American Youth to National Parks

The two National Park Service sites in St. Louis are filled with exhibits, artifacts, and programs that tell important stories about our nation’s past – from the exploration of the American west to the lives of two U.S. presidents to the struggle for civil rights.  The resources at these parks – Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site and Gateway Arch National Park – are available free to all visitors.  But all too often, children from under-served communities aren’t able to take advantage of these experiences.

Now there’s a unique opportunity for middle school students to visit these sites this summer for a full week of specially-designed programs. 

Credit: U.S. Grant National Historic Site

The Arch and U. S. Grant are offering free weeklong summer workshops at their sites for middle school students from African American communities.  Daily transportation and lunch are included at no cost, as are normally fee-based experiences like the Arch tram ride and a Mississippi riverboat cruise.

The five-day workshops will be offered at both the Arch and at Grant during select weeks from June to August.  Educators from both parks will lead the programs.  Their aim is to familiarize students with under-told stories of Black Americans in St. Louis and throughout Missouri, including stories of slavery, resistance, and Reconstruction.  The participants will learn by discovery instead of direct instruction, with guidance from park staff.  Students will select a person or story they want to research, then will present their creative project on their chosen subject at the conclusion of the workshop.

If you are interested, now’s the time to apply! The parks are accepting applications for groups of approximately 15 students (ideally from schools or youth groups) through mid-April.  Those interested in applying should contact Julie Northrip, Program Manager of Interpretation and Education at Ulysses S. Grant NHS by emailing julie_northrip@nps.gov or calling 314-842-1867 ext. 223. Please list in order your preference for which week your youth can attend.

June 12-16

June 19-23

June 26-30

July 24-28

July 31-Aug 4

JNPA is proud to support this unique program by underwriting the cost of the student lunches. 

Celebrating Women’s History Month

Throughout history, women have been instrumental in every facet of human endeavor.  Whether they have been renowned trailblazers or unsung heroines working behind the scenes, women have helped guide the course of American history and they continue to shape our future.

That’s why JNPA is commemorating Women’s History Month.  In the words of a White House proclamation, the month of March is an opportunity to “celebrate the countless women who have fought tirelessly and courageously for equality, justice, and opportunity in our Nation.  We also reaffirm our commitment to advancing rights and opportunities for women and girls in the United States and around the world.”

In honor of Women’s History Month, JNPA is proud to offer a number of books that shine a light on examples of women’s contributions to our national heritage, in both civil rights and voting rights:

Warriors Don’t Cry is a first-person account of Melba Pattillo Beals, one of nine African American teenagers who helped integrate Little Rock’s Central High School in the 1950s.  This searing account of her junior year at Central High highlights Beals’ bravery in the face of racist warnings, attacks, and ultimately, death threats.

The Long Shadow of Little Rock is a riveting memoir by Daisy Bates, one of the Little Rock Nine.  As a later civil rights activist, journalist, and lecturer, Bates provides a riveting and very personal account of America’s fraught school desegregation movement. 

An iconic 1957 image of a white girl screaming at an African American student highlights the anguish of America’s struggle to desegregate schools.  Elizabeth and Hazel recounts the intersecting lives of those two girls – Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Bryan Massery – whose very different lives unexpectedly braided together.

Women of the Suffrage Movement recounts the decades-long struggle of American women to secure the right to vote, from the famous Seneca Falls meeting in 1848 to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.

The women’s suffrage movement of the 1800s and 1900s was about more than just the right to vote.  It encompassed the most fundamental rights of citizenship: the right to receive fair wages, to hold property, to sign contracts, and to file suit in court.  Sisters examines the lives of America’s leading suffragists and how their efforts resulted in far-reaching changes to the nation’s laws.

The Golden Lane is the story of how women in Missouri gained the vote and changed the state’s history.

A New Life for a Historic Building

The stately Old Courthouse has stood on its site in Gateway Arch National Park for nearly 200 years.  Its courtrooms have been witness to some of the most important court cases in American history, including suits by enslaved African Americans seeking their freedom, and challenges to women’s right to vote.

But over the decades, the imposing building in downtown St. Louis has been in need of serious renovations, both to update its structural integrity and security, and to ensure accessibility for all visitors.  There was also a need to substantially update the building’s exhibits to better explain the stories that unfolded within its walls.

The Old Courthouse is now closed until these renovations are complete.  But let’s take a sneak peek of the fascinating exhibits now in the works for the four exhibit galleries.

Northeast Gallery: Dred and Harriet Scott – Focuses on the Scott family’s fight for freedom, which began in the Old Courthouse, and how the legal and political environment at the time culminated in the infamous U.S. Supreme Court Decision. The exhibit gallery also reflects on the legacy and relevancy of their case today.

Northwest Gallery: Pathways to Freedom – Explores African American life in St. Louis: slavery, the tortured legacy of enslaved individuals seeking freedom, post-Civil War civil rights, and more.

Southeast Gallery: Designed for Justice – Highlights the architectural features of the courthouse and the spirit of innovation of its architects, designers, builders, and craftsmen.

Southwest Gallery: See You in Court – Focuses on the importance of courts in our society, our legal structure, and the daily activities in the courthouse from 1839 to 1930. Visitors will be able to experience an 1850s courtroom and re-enact mock trials.  These will further their understanding of how our court system allows us to settle disputes peacefully and provides a framework for how our society functions.

The Old Courthouse renovations are jointly funded by the National Park Service and the Gateway Arch Park Foundation

A Spotlight on Slavery in St. Louis

The institution of slavery afflicted most major U.S. cities, and St. Louis was no exception.  Yet most modern-day St. Louisans aren’t aware of the many stories of heartbreak and hope that stemmed from the local slave trade.  The historians at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site have created a new exhibit to address this knowledge gap.

Let’s take a peek at the exhibit.

What do Dred and Harriet Scott, Lucy Delaney, and Elizabeth Keckley have in common? They were all enslaved African Americans in St. Louis who were renowned for their battles for freedom.  They also feature prominently in the new Slavery in St. Louis exhibit now on display at the visitor center at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site.  

A team of local historians and educators – led by park staff members Nick Sacco and Gregory Carr –carefully selected exhibit stories that focus not only on slavery but on freedom.  Nine exhibit panels are featured along with artifacts from the park’s museum collections. These explore the personal stories of notable individuals, such as the Scotts, as well as Ulysses S. Grant’s relationship to slavery. Additionally, the exhibit examines what life was like for enslaved people living in St. Louis.

Contributors to this exhibit include:

  • Lynne Jackson
  • Cicely Hunter
  • Ashley Lock
  • Corinne Mason
  • Katrina Moore
  • Vynetta Morrow
  • Robin Produie
  • Maria Russel
  • Kelly Schmidt
  • Jeff Smith
  • Joe Thurman
  • Jamilah Whiteside
  • Liz Wolfson

Make sure to visit the park and check out Slavery in St. Louis soon, as this temporary exhibit will eventually hit the road to be displayed at other institutions.

Happy President’s Day!

We love President’s Day!  Why?  Because JNPA is the proud partner of three national parks that were created to honor a U.S. president.  So as we approach President’s Day on Monday February 20, join us in honoring our national leaders, and find out how you can celebrate the upcoming holiday.

Though his name is no longer included in the park title, Thomas Jefferson is the reason behind the establishment of Gateway Arch National Park (formerly Jefferson National Expansion Memorial).  The 90-acre park is a memorial to the third president’s role in exploring the American West.  In addition to Eero Saarinen’s soaring Arch, the park features a museum that explores St. Louis’ vital role in U.S. history.  It also includes the historic Old Courthouse, where the enslaved Dred and Harriet Scott sued for their freedom in the mid-1800s.  (The Courthouse is currently closed for renovations.)

Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site commemorates the life and illustrious military career of our 18th president.  White Haven, the restored home where Grant and his wife Julia lived in the 1850s, is one of five historic structures that visitors can tour.  The site also features a museum housed in Grant’s former stable, as well as an introductory film on Grant’s life in the visitor center.

The boyhood home of President Bill Clinton is the featured attraction at President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site in Hope, Arkansas. The small but important park recently celebrated its 12th anniversary as a National Park Service site.  Clinton spent the first four years of his life in the white frame house.  Visitors can join a ranger-led tour of the home, which has been restored with furniture that evokes the 1940s, and view exhibits on the president’s life in the nearby visitor center.

Looking for a way to celebrate President’s Day?  Here are two St. Louis-area events you might enjoy, as well as a few products we love:

At the Gateway Arch:

Washington’s Ball, Saturday Feb. 18 12:00-4:00

Although Gateway Arch National Park is less about George Washington than Thomas Jefferson, the park will celebrate the first president’s birthday with a mid-19th century ball.  Visitors can learn old-fashioned dance steps from a historic dance expert, or just hang back and watch others twirl the afternoon away.

The ball will be held on the mezzanine inside the Arch visitor center.  It is free and open to all ages.  Historical clothing is not required to participate!

At Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site:

Museum Quest, Monday, February 20

Here’s a family-friendly way to observe President’s Day:  take part in a follow-the-clues quest at the park’s museum.  You’ll learn about Grant’s connection to other presidents, as well as some of accomplishments and events during his presidency. When you have completed the quest, you will receive a special commemorative gift.

The quest will run all day, and is fun for all ages.

Fans of bobbleheads can celebrate the holiday with one of our fun presidential bobbleheads – either Thomas Jefferson or Bill Clinton.  Whichever you choose, be sure to ask the president a question and he’ll answer you with a nod, “Yes, yes, yes, yes!”  Both bobbleheads are available at our park stores, or online.

Wonderful Winter Wildlife

Winter, a time of frozen lakes, sparkling snowfall, frigid temperatures, and… abundant wildlife? If you’re in Voyageurs National Park, then yes! Though temperatures remain below freezing in the park for nearly a third of the year(!), that does not stop some intrepid animals from making an appearance.

Credit: NPS/Grunwald

Winter is actually the ideal time of year to visit Voyageurs if you are hoping to see gray wolves in the wild. As the dominant predator in the park, they have an active and healthy population throughout the year, but during winter they can be more easily seen as they move along the lake shores hunting for food.

Credit: NPS/Nathan Hanks

The largest mammal in Voyageurs National Park is the magnificent and formidable moose. During the winter, moose have less access to high-quality foods, instead feeding on large quantities of willow, birch, and aspen. The scarcity of food resources forces the animals to conserve their energy, which includes staying away from deep snow and using packed trails or cleared roads. This increases the likelihood that  wildlife enthusiasts might see them, though you will want to be especially alert when driving in moose territory! Even if you do not see wild moose, you may be lucky enough to spot their antlers lying in the snow, as adult bull moose shed their antlers during the winter.

An animal that may be more challenging to spot in winter is the snowshoe hare. These small mammals are slightly larger than a cottontail rabbit and live primarily in coniferous forests such as those found in Voyageurs. Snowshoe hares are unique because their fur actually changes color depending on the season! In summer, they are dark brown to blend in with the shadows of their forest habitat. In winter, their fur turns a brilliant white which helps them to perfectly blend in with the snow.

Credit: NPS/Gordy Lindgren

No matter the season, Voyageurs is a perfect place for birdwatching. Many species of birds remain in the park throughout the winter, including loons, grey owls, great horned owls, cardinals, and warblers. One majestic bird actually migrates TO Minnesota in winter! Canadian winters actually drive snowy owls south to the more “moderate” climate of Voyageurs National Park, though they return north during the warmer summer months. These beautiful birds have perfect camouflage for the snowy months and the eerie ability to fly in complete silence, presenting a challenge for birdwatchers.  But if you are incredibly lucky, you may be able to spot one!

A little ♥ from The Arch Store

If you haven’t gotten your honey a little something for Valentine’s Day, there’s still time.  And we happen to have a few suggestions from our wide array of Gateway Arch products that just might fit the bill.

If your Valentine enjoys wearing a matching earring and necklace set, we have two gorgeous options to choose from.  The first set is perfect for this special day.  Our sterling silver and rose gold earrings feature a repeating Arch pattern inside a heart-shaped outline.  And the matching sterling silver necklace has a heart-shaped pendant in the same design.

If her tastes run more towards blue, she might like this turquoise- and silver-toned set.  The two-tone earrings feature a silver-tone Gateway Arch rising against a turquoise-colored background.  The matching necklace features a similar design on the pendant.

And what about something for the guys in your life?  How about these jaunty Gateway Arch socks?  Whether he wears them to the office or at home, he’ll be a true style setter!

Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

Take a Virtual Tour of Ulysses Grant’s Life

Ulysses S. Grant lived in many places throughout his lifetime. Now that the year-long celebration of the Ulysses S. Grant Bicentennial has come to an end, we thought it was a perfect time to visit a range of historic sites around the country where you can trace the growth and development of our 18th president.  From homes to memorials to museums, each of these 11 sites provides a unique perspective on the life and legacy of our 18th president.

The first stop on our virtual tour is Ulysses’ birthplace in Point Pleasant, a small town in southwest Ohio. He was born there on April 27, 1822, in a one-story frame home rented by his parents, Jesse and Hannah Grant.  The family moved a year later to a larger brick home in nearby Georgetown, Ohio, and young Ulysses lived there until he left for West Point in 1839. In addition to his boyhood home, the town also features the small schoolhouse he attended, the tannery his father built, and other Grant-related sites.

Credit: U.S. Grant Birthplace

When he was 17, Grant enrolled in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, thanks to his father’s encouragement.  Visitors to West Point can see several memorials and statues dedicated to Grant when they book a tour at the academy.

Painting of West Point by George Catlin, circa 1827. Credit: U.S. Army

After graduation, the young cadet was assigned to join the 4th U.S. Infantry at Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis.  It was here that Grant’s friendships led him to visit White Haven, the sprawling plantation where he would meet his future wife, Julia Dent. Visitors to Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site can tour the White Haven home as well as the on-site museum devoted to Ulysses and Julia’s lives.

Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site

Other sites on our virtual tour trace the various military outposts and stations around the country where Grant served in the U.S. military, sometimes with Julia and his children, sometimes not.  These include Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, WA – another National Park Service site.

Barracks at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Credit: NPS

Additional Grant home sites that are open for public tours are also part of our virtual tour.  They include the Grant home in Galena, Ill., where his family relocated after his failed career as a farmer in White Haven, and the Grant Cottage in Wilton, NY where Grant died of throat cancer on July 23, 1885.

The Grant home in Galena, IL. Credit: U.S. Grant State Historic Sites

The final resting place of Ulysses and Julia Grant is also worthy of a visit.  This is the General Grant National Memorial in New York City. This largest mausoleum in North America was dedicated in 1897, with more than a million people in attendance.

General Grant National Memorial. Credit: NPS

And finally, Grant scholars will want to stop in at the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library in Starkville, MI.  Mississippi was the site of the Battle of Vicksburg, the general’s greatest victory in the Civil War.  Visitors to the library can view exhibits as well as many of Grant’s papers, which are housed at Mississippi State University.

Credit: Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library

The Paradox of Thomas Jefferson

How many superlatives can one use to describe Thomas Jefferson?  First and foremost, he was a Founding Father whose defense of democracy and individual rights motivated American colonists to break away from Britain and form a new nation.  As principal author of the Declaration of Independence, he inspired human rights movements around the world with his assertion that “all men are created equal” and that they had a right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”   

Jefferson was also the first American Secretary of State, the second vice-president, and the third president.  During his presidential term, he peacefully negotiated the purchase from France of 827,987 square miles of the continent – known as the Louisiana Purchase – doubling the size of the U.S.  And he commissioned Meriwether Lewis and George Clark to lead their Corps of Discovery on their ambitious and successful two-year exploration of the newly acquired territory.  

Diplomat, statesman, lawyer, architect, inventor, philosopher, and plantation owner – there seems no end to the accomplishments of this 19th century figure.  Yet Thomas Jefferson was also a man of contradictions. 

Though he often called slavery an “abominable crime” and a “moral depravity,” he was a lifelong slaveholder who used slave labor for his household, plantation, and workshops. Over the course of his life, he owned more than 600 enslaved African Americans, eventually freeing only 10 of them, including the children of his household slave Sally Hemmings, with whom he had a longtime affair.   

Jefferson also held conflicting views on Native Americans.  On the one hand, he refuted the idea that Indigenous people were an inferior race, asserting that they were “equal in body and mind” to people of European descent.  Yet as president, he adopted an assimilation policy toward American Indians known as his “civilization program” and advocated for policies that called for the removal of Indians from their homelands. 

Jefferson’s views on religion, like everything else about him, were complex. He was a governing member of his local Episcopal Church, yet he came to believe Jesus was an important philosopher but not the son of God.  Jefferson’s religious views were nevertheless highly influential.  He reacted strongly against the laws of Virginia Colony, for instance, which allowed only Anglicans to hold public office. These laws prompted Jefferson to write the Statute of Religious Freedom for Virginia, ideas later incorporated into the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. 

Jefferson’s relationship to money was also complicated. He was wealthy most of his life, partly due to inheritances of slaves, land, and livestock from his own father and his first wife Martha’s father.  He lived a lavish lifestyle at Monticello, the estate he built on a Virginia hilltop, spending large sums on construction projects, furnishings, and décor.  At the end of his life, however, Jefferson was more than $100,000 in debt (about $2 million today) and was forced to sell his personal library to the government. It became the nucleus of the Library of Congress.  

Overall, the legacy of Thomas Jefferson is complex and full of contradictions. Neither a true hero nor a villain, he was simply a brilliant but complicated human being. Through both his successes and shortcomings, it cannot be denied that Thomas Jefferson permanently altered the course of American history.