Percy Julian, Pioneer Black Chemist, Home Bombed Twice After Moving to Oak Park IL

On November 9, 1950, the home of Dr. Percy Julian — a pioneering Black chemist who synthesized cortisone and physostigmine — is firebombed in Oak Park, Illinois after he becomes the first Black resident of the suburb. In 1951 his home is bombed again. Julian had purchased the home with cash, unable to obtain a mortgage. Despite his international scientific reputation and wealth, he cannot escape racial terror. His experience illustrates that neither class status nor achievement protects Black Americans from racist violence.