Library Resource Kit Who Was Percy
Julian?
Expanded Version
Dr. Percy Lavon Julian was a trailblazing chemist whose
discoveries improved and saved countless lives. The grandson
of slaves, Julian grew up at a time when African Americans
faced extraordinary obstacles. Yet Julian refused to let
racism prevent him from becoming one of the most influential
scientists of the 20th century, as well as a leader in
business and civil rights.
Julian was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on April 11, 1899.
Both of his parents were educated, which was rare for Black
families in the South at that time. Although his family
greatly valued education, Julian had to attend a segregated
elementary school. And, because Montgomery had no public high
school for African Americans, he was forced to attend a
teacher training school for African Americans instead.
In 1916, having barely a tenth-grade education, Julian entered
DePauw University, a largely white liberal arts school in
Indiana. "On my first day in college," he recalled, "I
remember walking in and a white fellow stuck out his hand and
said, 'How are you? Welcome!' I had never shaken hands with a
white boy before and did not know whether I should or not."
Despite having to take remedial courses to catch up to his
white peers and experiencing considerable racial
discrimination, Julian not only earned a bachelor's degree in
chemistry, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and first in his class.
After teaching chemistry at Fisk University for a couple of
years, Julian won a fellowship to continue his graduate work.
In 1923, he became the first African American to earn a
master's degree in chemistry from Harvard University. However,
Harvard still refused him admission to its doctoral
program—Julian had been denied the teaching
assistantship needed for admission. Julian eventually became
the head of the chemistry department at Howard University, an
African American institution. Determined to continue his
education, he enrolled in the University of Vienna, and in
1931 he earned a Ph.D. in chemistry, the fourth African
American to achieve this distinction. It was in Vienna that he
experienced a new sense of freedom—accessing layers of
society unavailable in the United States. It was here that
Julian also began his lifelong inquiry into the chemistry of
plants.
Returning to DePauw University as a research fellow, Julian
eventually became an expert in synthesis, the process of
turning one substance into another through a series of planned
chemical reactions. Synthesis was the highest calling for a
chemist in the 1930s. In 1935, Julian and a colleague
synthesized physostigmine, a plant compound from Calabar
beans, and won a high-stakes, high-profile scientific victory
over the "dean" of chemistry, Sir Robert Robinson. Their
achievement led to physostigmine being widely used as a
treatment for glaucoma. In fact, in 1999, the American
Chemical Society recognized their work as a National Historic
Chemical Landmark—one of the top 25 accomplishments in
American chemical history. In addition, numerous
undergraduates trained by Julian were published in the
Journal of the American Chemical Society—an
unheard of occurrence at the time.
Still, despite his impressive achievements, Julian's
opportunities were sharply restricted, and DePauw refused to
appoint him to a permanent faculty position. American colleges
and universities at the time simply were not prepared to have
a Black person teaching white students. Thus, Julian moved
from the world of academia to the world of business, where
although he faced similar challenges, he landed a job as
Director of Research at the Glidden Company in 1936.
Among other important achievements, Julian's highly successful
research at Glidden helped trigger an explosive growth
industry for soybeans. For 18 years, his work uncovering new
uses for the chemicals found in soybeans was not only
enormously profitable for Glidden, it helped relieve human
suffering across the globe. For example, a protein he
extracted from soybeans was used to produce a fire-retardant
foam in fire extinguishers. Called Aer-o-foam, it saved
thousands of soldiers' lives during World War II.
In addition, Julian discovered a process for making artificial
hormones. The discovery was actually serendipitous: after
water leaked into a giant tank of soybean oil, Julian
recognized crystals of stigmasterol, a steroid, at the bottom
of the tank. He eventually developed a process for converting
stigmasterol into progesterone and making it available on a
commercial scale. Today progesterone is used to decrease the
risk for uterine cancer and in hormone replacement therapy.
Julian also found a way to create synthetic cortisone, making
this once prohibitively expensive "wonder drug" affordable to
millions of arthritis sufferers.
In recognition of his contributions to society, Julian was
named Chicagoan of the Year in 1950. But when he and his wife
Anna and their two children moved to Oak Park, Illinois, a
predominantly white, affluent suburb of Chicago, they
encountered violent resistance. Despite attempts to intimidate
them—their house was set on fire and
firebombed—the Julians stood their ground and remained
in Oak Park.
In 1953, Julian established Julian Laboratories to produce
synthetic steroids, which pharmaceutical companies used to
make drugs. He proved to be as talented an entrepreneur as he
was a chemist. Julian's company flourished, making him a
millionaire when he sold it in 1961. By the 1970s, Julian had
more than 100 patents to his name and was widely recognized as
an innovator who had helped make a range of medicines more
affordable. He also was a prominent civic and civil rights
leader, raising funds and speaking publicly for racial justice
and full equality for all Americans. Perhaps his greatest
contribution was breaking the color barrier in American
industrial science: Julian's labs were the training grounds
for dozens of promising young African American chemists. For
his contributions to humanity, Julian received 18 honorary
degrees and more than a dozen civic and scientific awards; he
was the second African American elected to the National
Academy of Sciences and the first chemist.
Percy Julian died of liver cancer in 1975, at the age of 76.
Throughout the world, millions of people continue to benefit
from his groundbreaking discoveries.
