Dr. Percy Julian: African American Chemist

Dr. Percy Julian was born in 1899 in Birmingham, Alabama. He studied chemistry at Depauw University and graduated as the valedictorian of his class in 1920. He taught chemistry for two years at Fisk, and then went to Harvard to complete his Masters degree. He graduated in 1923, but was unable to find work at Harvard because white students did not want a Black teaching assistant. He taught instead at West Virginia State College and Howard University.

In 1929, Julian traveled to Vienna, Austria to complete his doctorate degree. He received his Ph.D. in 1931, and returned to work at DePauw University. He and Dr. Joseph Pikl developed a process to synthesize the glaucoma drug physostigmine. After this accomplishment, he should have been named chair of the Chemistry Department, but his superiors decided not to give him this honor because of his race.

In 1935, Julian married his wife Anna and joined the Glidden Company as Director of the Soy Product Division. There, he formulated many new soy-based products. One of the most important was aerofoam, a flame retardant used widely during WWII. Julian also developed a process to synthesize testosterone and progesterone from soy, allowing these hormones to be used in pharmaceuticals. Later, he found a way to produce synthetic cortisone from soy. This made cortisone affordable for many people suffering from arthritis.

Despite his success, Julian could not escape racism. He and his wife bought a house in Oak Park, Illinois. In 1950, the house was set on fire on Thanksgiving Day. The arsonist was never caught. In 1951, someone threw dynamite at the house, and it exploded outside his childrens' bedroom window. Julian started to sit outside in the tree in front of the house with a shotgun to protect his family.

In 1954, Julian founded Julian Laboratories, where he developed a new process to make cortisone from wild yams. He later sold the company for $2.3 million. In 1964 he founded Julian Research Institute and Julian Associates. As a result of his experiences of racism, he became active in the NAACP and Urban League. In 1973 he was finally elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He died of cancer in 1975.

Do you want to teach your students more about Percy Julian? You can watch an online documentary about his life here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/julian/
There is a study guide on the website for teachers, as well as a transcript of the program.