Chicago Avenue Streetscape Honoring Dr. Percy L. Julian
Dr. Percy L. Julian was a brilliant chemist, entrepreneur and philanthropist whose work had far-reaching impacts in medicine and civil rights advocacy. He and his family were among the first African American residents to call Oak Park home. Here, Dr. Julian raised his family and became a leader in the fight to end racial discrimination and expand scientific knowledge.
Despite his boundary-breaking accomplishments, Dr. Julian is considered by many to be largely unrecognized. The Dr. Percy Julian Streetscape project seeks to honor his legacy, provide a brand and identity for the district, and facilitate economic development to build meaningful capacity around organizations of the district.
The proposed streetscape will span Chicago Avenue, from his former home on East Avenue to Austin Boulevard, and is expected to include site features and outdoor exhibits that tell the story of Dr. Julian’s life. These exhibits, ranging from signage to public art, will integrate into Oak Park’s thriving business district along Chicago Avenue to create a cohesive identity for the area and to bolster economic development.
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Members of the Chicago Avenue Dr. Percy L. Julian Streetscape project team are available to answer your questions.
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Percy Lavon Julian (April 11, 1899 - April 19, 1975) was an American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He was the first to synthesize the natural product physostigmine; and was a pioneer in the industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of the human hormones, steroids, progesterone, and testosterone, from plant sterols such as stigmasterol and sitosterol. His work would lay the foundation for the steroid drug industry's production of cortisone, other corticosteroids, and birth control pills.
He later started his own company to synthesize steroid intermediates from the Mexican wild yam. His work helped reduce the cost of steroid intermediates to large multinational pharmaceutical companies. During his lifetime he received more than 130 chemical patents. Julian was one of the first African Americans to receive a doctorate in chemistry. He was the first African-American chemist inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, and the second African-American scientist inducted from any field.
Around 1950 Julian moved his family from Chicago to the village of Oak Park, Illinois, where the Julians were the first African-American family. Although some residents welcomed them into the community, there was also opposition by some. Their home was fire-bombed on Thanksgiving Day, 1950, before they moved in. After the Julians had moved to Oak Park, the house was attacked with dynamite on June 12, 1951. The attacks galvanized the community and a community group was formed to support the Julians.
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Email bcrawford@oak-park.us -
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