Black Chemist to Receive Recognition

By Shannon in News on Apr 1, 2007 7:49PM

Here at Chicagoist, we're all about the science. Heck, we tend to use it every day. Of course, due to time restraints, we're usually unaware of which scientists brought what various inventions into our daily lives. That's okay, for the suburb of Franklin Park and PBS's "Nova" have refreshed our collective memory about one chemist whose achievements, in the field and in his life, would have otherwise been lost to history.

Percy Julian had a hard time growing up black in Montgomery, AL in the early 1900s. He counted lynchings among his childhood memories. After bouncing around academia trying to find a decent higher education, he finally received a PhD in chemistry from DePauw. He had similar difficulties trying to find a job; at one point he applied to the Institute of Paper Chemistry in Appleton, WI, only to be rejected due to Appleton's status as a sundown town, where blacks were not allowed to stay overnight. Paint giant Glidden finally gave him a shot, hiring him in 1936 for their Maywood facility. There he synthesized steroids from soybean plants.

When Glidden dropped their steroid division, Julian opened his own laboratory in Franklin Park in 1953. Black scientists worked alongside whites, with little discrimination. Such was not the case when Julian bought a home in Oak Park; it was firebombed shortly afterward. He and his family refused to leave. Neighbors eventually rallied around them, vowing their support. In all, Julian claimed over 130 chemical patents and laid the groundwork for birth control pills and improved cortisone production.

To commemorate Julian's accomplishments, PBS produced a "Nova" special called "Forgotten Genius" that aired last month. Franklin Park also wants to remember the pioneering chemist in its own way: an etched concrete portrait on an underpass that will run through the grounds of his former laboratory. ... Something's not right about that sentence. Look, we realize Franklin Park hasn't ever commemorated any important local figures up to this point, but look at all that the man did. Doesn't he deserve a little bit better than his face in a place where no one but speeding cars will see it?