Louisa Pinkham Holt, Public Sociology and Racial Desegregation

The article examines the career of sociologist-social psychologist Louisa Pinkham Holt with particular emphasis on her expert testimony in the landmark racial desegregation case of Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. I provide some necessary background information on Louisa's upbringing, education and professional training that helps to contextualize and explain her testimony. I then describe some of the later consequences of her involvement in Brown v. Board, including a portrayal of her role in a popular film, and I sketch out the details of her subsequent, non-conforming professional career. I conclude that although Louisa is not widely remembered today, her expert testimony remains one of the most successful examples of "public sociology.