Black History Month Project
featuring
Dr. Percy Julian

The Negro scientist now need neither to starve nor be condemned to a frustrating intellectual ghetto if he chooses pure science as a career, and one can see a promising future for his fresh and uninhibited imaginative power. 
—Percy Julian
QUICK FACTS
NAME
Percy Julian
OCCUPATION
Academic, Civil Rights Activist,Chemist, Scientist, Medical Professional
BIRTH DATE
April 11, 1899
DEATH DATE
April 19, 1975
EDUCATION
Harvard University, University of Vienna, De Pauw University
PLACE OF BIRTH
Montgomery, Alabama
PLACE OF DEATH
Waukegan, Illinois
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African-American chemist Percy Julian was a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs such as cortisone, steroids and birth control pills.

Film: Forgotten Genius

Against all odds, African-American chemist Percy Julian became one of the great scientists of the 20th century. Aired February 6, 2007 on PBS

Program Description
The grandson of Alabama slaves, Percy Julian met with every possible barrier in a deeply segregated America. He was a man of genius, devotion, and determination. As a black man he was also an outsider, fighting to make a place for himself in a profession and country divided by bigotry—a man who would eventually find freedom in the laboratory. By the time of his death, Julian had risen to the highest levels of scientific and personal achievement, overcoming countless obstacles to become a world-class scientist, a self-made millionaire, and a civil-rights pioneer.

YouTube Videos about Percy Julian 

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Click on a picture of Percy Julian to investigate further.

African American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants.
Born April 11, 1899, in Montgomery, Alabama, Percy L. Julian is best known for his achievements in chemistry, producing chemicals in the laboratory previously only available from nature. His work with chemicals used to make sex hormones led to improved treatment for some forms of cancer and pregnancy disorders. These and other chemicals Dr. Julian produced in the laboratory, including cortisone, which relieves arthritis pain, became less expensive to manufacture and more widely available through his research. Julian passed away in Chicago, Illinois on April 19, 1975.
Percy Julian's Life
  • 1899—Born in Montgomery, Alabama on April 11.
  • 1920—Graduates first in his class from DePauw University with a bachelor's degree in chemistry.
  • 1923—Earns master's degree in chemistry from Harvard University.
  • 1928—Heads chemistry department at Howard University.
  • 1931—Awarded Ph.D. from the University of Vienna, where he begins his work with plant compounds.
  • 1932—Returns to teach at DePauw University.
  • 1935—Succeeds in producing synthetic physostigmine, which leads to a glaucoma drug. Marries Anna Johnson, the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in sociology in the U.S.
  • 1936—Begins working at the Glidden Company. 1939 Succeeds in producing progesterone on an industrial scale.
  • 1940—Son Percy Jr. is born.
  • 1942—Extracts a soybean protein that leads to the development of a fire-retardant foam that saves thousands of soldiers' lives in World War II.
  • 1944—Daughter Faith is born.
  • 1947—Receives the Spingarn Medal from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
  • 1949—Synthesizes Compound S, a major ingredient in low-cost cortisone.
  • 1950—Named Chicagoan of the Year.
  • 1951—Moves to Oak Park, Illinois, where his family's home is firebombed.
  • 1953—Founds Julian Laboratories.
  • 1961—Sells the company for $2.3 million.
  • 1960s and 1970s—Works with civil rights groups to fight discrimination.
  • 1973—Elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
  • 1975—Dies on April 19.
  • 1993—U.S. Postal Service issues stamp in his honor.
  • 1999—Julian's work recognized as a National Landmark by the American Chemical Society.

Julian established his own laboratory, Julian Laboratories, in 1954. He sold the company in 1961, becoming one of the first black millionaires, before founding Julian Research Institute, a nonprofit organization that he ran for the rest of his life.

The United States Postal Service honored Alabama-born chemist Percy Julian with the 1993 issuance of a stamp bearing his likeness as part of its Black Heritage Series.
Percy Julian's Acknowledgments and Awards

Member: Phi Beta Kappa; National Academy of Science; fellow, Chemical Society of London, New York Academy of Science, and American Institute of Chemists.

Selected awards: Spingarn Medal, NAACP, 1947; Chicagoan of the Year, Chicago Sun-Times, 1950; Silver Plaque Award, National Conference of Christians and Jews, 1965; Chemical Pioneer Award, American Institute of Chemists, 1968; Procter Prize, 1974; inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame, 1990; commemorative stamp issued by U.S. Postal Service, 1993.



Other Links

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George Washington Carver Biography 

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is the #1 resource on the web focusing on the ingenuity and accomplishments of the top Black inventors over the last 300 years. Their contributions are chronicled and the inventors are profiled, providing information for students and others interested in these pioneers of Black History.