Unless we, who know better than most world citizens the horror of the mushroom cloud that hangs ominously over us, become active Humanists in word and in deed, we may well condemn our world to awake some day never to view again the "green stillness of the country where we can hear the heart of Nature beat,"
For the final blog post in our series on Black figures from history in STEM, we'll be looking back at the life and work of Dr. Percy Lavon Julian.
Dr. Percy Lavon Julian’s work in the fields of chemistry and medicine was a crucial part of the creation of birth control pills and corticosteroids. He was a pioneer in the field of chemical synthesis, and started his own business that worked on the reduction of steroid costs for massive pharmaceutical companies.
Julian is an inspiring figure for many reasons - not only for groundbreaking work in his fields, but for the determination that he showed to succeed against the odds in order to achieve his goals. He was born in Alabama, and was the son of a railway clerk, with his grandparents having been enslaved - this was a time when Black people in the USA were unashamedly shown complete prejudice in every aspect of their lives. His high school was lacking in its ability to fully prepare students for higher education, but Julian worked incredibly hard and was accepted by DePauw University - although, he then had to complete his high-school course whilst doing his other studies in order to catch up.
Julian's efforts were well-recognised in his university life, and he graduated as class valedictorian in 1920. Following this, he taught at Fisk University for a couple of years, and then won a fellowship for Harvard University (this was where he would complete his master's degree in organic chemistry). After completing his studies at Harvard, he would then teach at Howard University and West Virginia State College.
Dr. Julian worked on some incredible research over the course of his life, perhaps the most well known of which is his work on the synthesis of sex hormones such as progesterone that would aid pregnant women in avoiding miscarriages. After research from Julian and German chemists established that one such steroid could be obtained from soybeans, Julian set about researching samples of soybean oil, requesting these from the Glidden company in Chicago. He ended up being hired by the Glidden company, within the soya division, as their director of research. It was hear that he came up with the process for the industrial production of progesterone in bulk, and similar innovations for other sex hormones quickly followed. His work on physostigmine for glaucoma and cortisone and hydrocortisone are also often noted as historical achievments.
Percy Julian started his own company in 1954, Julian Laboratories of Franklin Park, Illinois, and Mexico Park - but remained working at Glidden until this time.
As well as his scientific and academic work, Dr. Julian's work as an activist was renowned, and he worked throughout his life to aid groups that were working for civil rights, and for the advancement of space in society for African Americans. He was on the boards for several institutions and organisations, and was instrumental in founding the Legal Defense and Educational Fund of Chicago.