16 Olivia Hooker

General Biography

Olivia Hooker was born on February 12th, 1915 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Over the course of her upbringing, Hooker witnessed first hand just how severe of a problem racial discrimination truly was in the U.S.  The first of these atrocities she endured took place in 1921 when 6-year-old Olivia became a survivor of the Tulsa Race Riots. The riots began when a White woman lied about a young Black man trying to assault her. In reality, he had simply touched her arm. The boy was caught and held in jail (Morris, 2020). These riots resulted in over 300 deaths and caused around 9,000 people of color to lose their homes and businesses. Looking at her past, we see a woman that has experienced some of the nation’s worst racism.

After Hooker’s family lost their department store in the riots, they moved and settled in Columbus, Ohio for the rest of her childhood. In 1937, Hooker earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Ohio State University and taught third grade for seven years. She also worked at a women’s correctional facility, where she became a psychologist intern and offered therapy to women with developmental disabilities. Olivia encouraged women to know, “Just because someone has made a mistake in life, that doesn’t mean they go through life making mistakes” (McKay, 2013, p.1).

When World War II began, Hooker joined the United States Coast Guard as the first African American woman. With the GI benefits she obtained, Hooker was able to gain a higher education, acquiring her Master’s Degree from Teachers College at Columbia University, and her PhD from the University of Rochester. When Hooker earned her doctorate in psychology, she became a senior Clinical Psychology Professor at Fordham University. Hooker further established and led a mentoring program for ethnic-minority students for 22 years until she retired (Wendel, 2021).

During this time, Hooker founded the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Division 33 for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities/Autism Spectrum Disorders (Miller, 2012). Outside the field of psychology, Hooker led a Girl Scout Troop in an area where she was the only person of African American descent. In retirement, Hooker operated as a psychologist at the Fred Keller School for Behavioral Analysis. Here, she provided early intervention to children with developmental disabilities for 10 years, and spent much of her free time at the Kennedy Child Study Center to offer extra help and give evaluations and therapy to children with learning disabilities and developmental delays. Hooker passed away peacefully in her sleep on November 21, 2018, at the age of 103. Through her life’s work, Hooker embodied the Golden Rule: If you want others to treat you with respect, then you should treat them with respect as well. Overall, Olivia Hooker is an important part of the history of psychology and deserves more recognition. Through her story, we see racial and gender barriers, yet she persevered.

Important Achievements

In 1947, Hooker received her master’s degree at Teachers College, and then earned her doctorate at the University of Rochester in 1960, where she was one of two women to achieve their doctorate in clinical psychology (Morris, 2020). As previously mentioned, Olivia Hooker benefited the field of psychology by helping form the American Psychology Association’s (APA) Division 33, or the Society for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities/Autism Spectrum Disorders (IDD/ASD). She went on to achieve other titles such as Associate Professor at Fordham University from 1967 to 1984. Hooker and other Tulsa Race Riot survivors also started the committee that dealt with seeking retributions for the horrible actions that happened. In 1997, Hooker testified, and due to this, those who were affected by the Tulsa Race RIots won retributions. In 2011, Hooker was given the APA Presidential Citation, and in 2015, she was recognized by President Barack Obama at the 134th commemoration at the Coast Guard Academy. A training wing was named after Hooker, and there she shared her philosophy in one sentence: “Love all, trust few, and do right.” Although Hooker’s achievements in psychology are somewhat limited, she impacted many people and helped to expand the field by helping those with developmental and intellectual disabilities (Morris, 2020).

Hooker’s achievements run parallel with the fact that she dealt with personal moments of racism. For example, Hooker applied for and was rejected from the Women to be Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) in the United States Navy. Hooker later disputed the rejection and went on to serve in the Boston Coast Guard, achieving the rank of Petty Officer 2nd Class.  

Historical Context

During the 1960’s, the care of individuals with mental illness or intellectual disabilities was largely transferred to independent community centers, as opposed to institutions and insane asylums. This became relevant in Hooker’s life because she advocated for patient mental health rights. As deinstitutionalization continued, patients were moved into general hospitals, outpatient facilities, or halfway houses, and joined the general population. During this time, like many minority groups, individuals with developmental disabilities were denied equal opportunities educationally, socially, and politically. Hooker was among the advocates who argued people with disabilities had the right to participate in mainstream society. She believed they should have equal access to services that helped them live and work in their communities. Side by side with the zeitgeist of society in the United States, Hooker hoped that people could have happy and healthy lives with a combination of therapy and medication.

While Hooker was obtaining her Ph.D., she drew inspiration from the research she was reading on children with Down Syndrome. The main focus of Hooker’s doctoral dissertation became children with Down Syndrome and their learning abilities. She centered on motivating techniques that allowed children to complete strenuous tasks that were considered outside of their efficiency level. During her Ph.D. research, Hooker was hired to work under Emory Cowen, who was founding the Primary Mental Health Project. Cowen was a developmental psychologist working on affordable mental health services for children who were otherwise unlikely to receive help. Cowen and Hightower (1989) note that the Primary Mental Health Project was a program for early intervention and prevention that addressed the needs of kindergarteners through third graders. Here, Hooker was allowed to continue her research while helping Cowen spearhead the idea of community mental health. Together, they helped with the detection and prevention of young children’s school maladjustment.

After Hooker received her Ph.D., she applied for a teaching position at Fordham University. She received the job under Celia Fisher, the Director and University Chair at Fordham’s Center for Ethics Education. While teaching at Fordham, Hooker found a connection with a female colleague, Anne Anastasi (“Anne Anastasi”, 2022). Anastasi is known for her early contributions in the field of psychometrics, or how psychological traits are influenced, developed, and measured. Anastasi influenced Hooker through their shared love of psychology and dedication to teaching for 22 years together. This formed a lifelong friendship between the two. After Anastasi passed away, the Manhattan Psychological Association granted an award, named after her, to Hooker in 2016, for her ability to thrive under circumstances beset with affliction (Trotman, 2016).

After 22 years of teaching, Hooker left Fordham University. She became one of the first administrators for the Kennedy Child Study Center in New York. She worked alongside Kenneth Bancroft Clark. Clark was a social psychologist who researched the impact of societal racism on intersectionality and self-esteem. Hooker contributed to many of Clark’s published papers and became close friends with his wife, Mamie Phillips Clark. Alongside the couple, Hooker was present when their combined research resulted in the famous “Doll Tests” (Edelman, 2022).  She went on to influence the future for people of color and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities with her amazing accomplishments and contributions to society.

Historical Impact

Olivia Hooker was someone that found herself at the heart of many impactful moments throughout history. Hooker was renowned for her efforts in fighting for equality among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but it is her psychological contributions that may have had the most long lasting impact. In addition to being a beloved professor, she spent a great deal of time working as a clinician with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This work quickly became a passion of hers and was the primary driving force behind her future involvement with the APA’s Division 33.  This division is responsible for five different special interest groups: Behavior modification and technology, Dual diagnosis, Early intervention, Aging and adult development, and Making the transition into adulthood (“Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities”, 2009). The establishment of Division 33 was a huge step in the right direction in an effort to better understand these disabilities, which had become increasingly more prevalent. Division 33 had an immediate positive impact on the psychological community by creating an established space for professionals to specialize in this area of research.

The establishment of Division 33 not only opened the door for more substantial research on disabilities such as autism, but also allowed the psychology community to gain more understanding about individuals with autism spectrum disorder. This was an important development within the field of psychology due to the rising cases of people being diagnosed.  Division 33 has progressed throughout the years and is in the process of expanding to other fields. Members of the division hope that it will eventually include specialists from other fields such as pharmacology, neuroscience, genetics and clinical research. They hope that by expanding beyond psychology, they will be able to gain a multifaceted understanding of these disorders. In other words, autism spectrum disorder is something that is best approached from multiple different angles and various scientific perspectives. By involving researchers from other fields, Division 33 can continue its journey of increasing the quality of life for individuals with diagnoses of IDD and ASD. Olivia Hooker’s legacy lives on through the work done by the division she worked hard to establish.

References 

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). A closer look at division 33–a home for autism experts. Monitor on Psychology. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/monitor/nov04/closer

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Intellectual and developmental disabilities/autism spectrum disorder (division 33). American Psychological Association. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/about/division/div33

Cowen, E. L., & Hightower, A. D. (1989). The Primary Mental Health Project: Alternative approaches in school based preventive interventions. In T. B. Gutkin & C. R. Reynolds (Eds.), Handbook of school psychology (2nd ed., pp. 777-797). New York: Wiley.

Edelman, L. (2022, February 7). Black History Month: Heroes in Psychology. Embolden Psychology. https://embolden.world/tag/black-history-month/

Home. (2009, July 2). YouTube. Retrieved September 25, 2022, from http://www.rochester.edu/pr/Review/V68N2/after.html

MacKay, J. (2013). Olivia Hooker (b. 1915). APA Divisions. https://www.apadivisions.org/division-35/about/heritage/olivia-hooker-biography

MacKay, J. (2013). Olivia Hooker. Feminist Voices. https://feministvoices.com/profiles/olivia-hooker

Miller, A. (2012). Living history. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/11/history

Morris, D. (2020). Olivia Juliette Hooker (1915–2018). American Psychologist, 75(3), 408–409. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000535

Trotman, A. M. (2016, November). Editor’s Note. APA 2016 Convention Division One Awards. https://www.apadivisions.org/division-1/publications/newsletters/general/2016/10/issue.pdf

University, F. (2022). Anne Anastasi. Fordham University. Retrieved November 2022, from https://www.fordham.edu/about/leadership-and-administration/administrative-offices/office-of-the-president/hall-of-honor/anne-anastasi/

Wendel, E. (2021, August 27). Olivia Hooker (1915–2018) – Celebration 2020 – University of Rochester. Celebration 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.rochester.edu/2020-celebration/olivia-hooker/