Dr. Percy Julian

Percy Julian was one of the great scientists of the 20th century. The grandson of Alabama slaves, Julian won worldwide acclaim for his work in organic chemistry-and broke the color barrier in American science more than a decade before Jackie Robinson did so in baseball. A brilliant chemist, Julian discovered a way to turn soybeans into synthetic steroids on an industrial scale. His innovative approach to chemistry helped to make drugs like cortisone available to millions.Percy Julian overcame countless obstacles to become a world-class scientist, a self-made millionaire, and a civil-rights pioneer. Yet despite his many achievements, his story is largely unknown.

Julian was born in Montgomery, Alabama on April 11, 1899, the oldest of six children, the son of a railway clerk, and the grandson of a slave.

In 1916, Percy Julian left home to go to DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. While there he waited on tables and had a room in the attic of an all white Fraternity house. In 1920 he graduated as class Valedictorian. He continued his education by going to Harvard, where in 1923 he received his Masters degree. Then he went on to the University of Vienna to earn a Doctorate in Chemistry in 1931.

Returning the United States, Julian worked briefly at Howard University in Washington, before returning to DePauw university for an appointment as a teacher in organic chemistry. At DePauw, he worked with an associate of his from Vienna, Dr. Josef Pikl, on the synthesis of physostigmine from soy beans, a drug which was used as a treatment for glaucoma. After much work and adversity, Julian was successful in synthesizing the compound and became internationally hailed for his achievement.

In 1936, Percy and his wife Anna Julian moved to Chicago, where he became the Director of Research at the Glidden Company, a position he would hold for 18 years. Julian was the first black scientist hired for such a high-level corporate research position. The Glidden Company was a leading chemical manufacturer and was counting on Julian to develop new compounds for the emerging soy product industry that could yield commercial success. Julian did not disappoint, and pioneered a process for the chemical synthesis of cortisone, which made possible widespread and affordable use of cortisone as a treatment for arthritis.

In 1950, the Julians moved to the upscale and mostly white neighborhood of Oak Park, in the Chicago suburbs. The early going was very traumatic and their home was fire-bombed on Thanksgiving Day, 1950, before they moved in. The attacks galvanized the community and a community group was formed to support the Julians.

In 1954, Julian left the Glidden Company to establish Julian Laboratories which specialized in producing his synthetic cortisone. When he discovered that wild yams in Mexico were even more effective than Soya beans for some of his products, he opened the Laboratorios Julian de Mexico in Mexico City which cultivated the yams and shipped them to Oak Park for refinement. In 1961 he sold the Oak Park plant to Smith, Kline and French, a giant pharmaceutical company and received a sum of 2.3 million dollars, a staggering amount for an African-American at that time.

He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1973 in recognition of his scientific achievements and has received 19 honorary Doctorates. He has also been credited with over 100 patents.

Percy Julian was gradually accepted in the Chicago society community where he developed a role as a civil rights activist. He founded the National Negro Business and Professional Committee for the Legal Defense Fund. He also raised money for the NAACP and for donations to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Julians had two children of their own and also raised their nephew, Leon Ellis. The children all attended the Oak Park Elementary schools and Oak Park/River Forest High School.

Oak Park, IL has been greatly influenced by Dr. Percy Julian. He encouraged the Human Relations Commission in the Village government and the Oak Park Housing Center which has helped make Oak Park one of the most efficient systems of integration in the country.

Percy Julian died of cancer in 1975.

Since 1976 his birthday has been a holiday for the Village of Oak Park. There is now a Percy Julian Middle School in Oak Park. There is also a Percy Julian High School in Chicago and another P.L. Julian School in Phoenix, Arizona.