1 00:00:08,733 --> 00:00:10,600 {\an1}COURTNEY B. VANCE: 1939. 2 00:00:10,633 --> 00:00:12,466 {\an1}A chemist at a Midwestern paint company 3 00:00:12,500 --> 00:00:14,900 {\an1}makes a startling discovery, 4 00:00:14,933 --> 00:00:20,466 {\an1}one that could improve the health of millions of people. 5 00:00:20,500 --> 00:00:23,066 {\an1}The company wants him to stick to making paint, 6 00:00:23,100 --> 00:00:28,166 {\an1}but this man has always gone his own way. 7 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,133 {\an1}He was the grandson of Alabama slaves, 8 00:00:32,166 --> 00:00:36,100 {\an1}yet he went on to become one of America's great scientists. 9 00:00:36,133 --> 00:00:39,200 HELEN PRINTY: He had to fight to overcome the odds 10 00:00:39,233 --> 00:00:42,433 of being a Black man in America. 11 00:00:42,466 --> 00:00:47,400 {\an1}JOHN KENLY SMITH: The chemical world was a club, 12 00:00:47,433 --> 00:00:51,400 {\an1}and outsiders were not really all that welcome. 13 00:00:51,433 --> 00:00:55,233 PETER WALTON: We lived, for the most part, 14 00:00:55,266 --> 00:00:57,266 {\an1}in a highly stressed, 15 00:00:57,300 --> 00:00:59,533 {\an1}very competitive environment. 16 00:01:01,300 --> 00:01:03,100 VANCE: Outside the laboratory, 17 00:01:03,133 --> 00:01:05,900 {\an1}he faced challenges of a different kind. 18 00:01:05,933 --> 00:01:08,333 {\an1}PERCY JULIAN (dramatized): Once the violence began... 19 00:01:08,366 --> 00:01:10,366 {\an1}(distant explosion) 20 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,733 {\an1}Anna and I felt we had no choice but to stay. 21 00:01:13,766 --> 00:01:17,466 {\an1}PERCY JULIAN, JR.: My dad was angry when he came home, 22 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:20,200 {\an1}and clearly ready to fight. 23 00:01:20,900 --> 00:01:21,866 Allow me... 24 00:01:21,900 --> 00:01:25,100 JULIAN, SR.: For more than a century, 25 00:01:25,133 --> 00:01:28,266 {\an1}we have watched the denial of elemental liberty 26 00:01:28,300 --> 00:01:31,300 {\an1}to millions of Black people in our southland. 27 00:01:31,333 --> 00:01:33,266 ♪ 28 00:01:33,300 --> 00:01:36,600 VANCE: He found freedom in the laboratory. 29 00:01:36,633 --> 00:01:40,666 {\an1}His science helped unlock the secret chemistry of plants, 30 00:01:40,700 --> 00:01:43,100 {\an1}a discovery that would help relieve 31 00:01:43,133 --> 00:01:47,266 {\an1}one of the most crippling human diseases... 32 00:01:47,300 --> 00:01:50,266 {\an1}and plunge him into one of the fiercest battles 33 00:01:50,300 --> 00:01:53,600 {\an1}in the history of science. 34 00:01:53,633 --> 00:01:56,733 GREGORY PETSKO: This is one of the towering figures of chemistry 35 00:01:56,766 --> 00:01:59,066 {\an1}in the 20th century 36 00:01:59,100 --> 00:02:02,933 {\an1}and one of the great African-American scientists of all time. 37 00:02:02,966 --> 00:02:05,633 VANCE: A brilliant chemist... 38 00:02:05,666 --> 00:02:07,200 JULIAN, SR.: Trust me! 39 00:02:07,233 --> 00:02:09,733 {\an5}VANCE: ...a volatile personality...I will prove him wrong! 40 00:02:09,766 --> 00:02:14,000 VANCE:A man whose devotion to science would not be denied. 41 00:02:14,033 --> 00:02:15,166 WILLIE PEARSON: This man was 42 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:18,066 {\an1}Exhibit A of determination 43 00:02:18,100 --> 00:02:20,666 {\an1}and never giving up. 44 00:02:20,700 --> 00:02:22,433 {\an3}MAN: Please state your full name for the record. 45 00:02:22,466 --> 00:02:25,933 {\an1}My name is Percy Julian. 46 00:02:27,133 --> 00:02:32,233 ♪ 47 00:02:32,233 --> 00:02:42,033 ♪ 48 00:02:53,366 --> 00:02:55,700 (birds chirping, insects buzzing) 49 00:02:55,733 --> 00:02:57,900 ♪ 50 00:02:57,933 --> 00:03:00,633 VANCE: Every spring in Oak Park, Illinois, 51 00:03:00,666 --> 00:03:03,566 people from all over the village would go out of their way 52 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,333 {\an1}to see the explosion of color at the home on East Avenue. 53 00:03:10,533 --> 00:03:12,933 JULIAN, JR.:The tulips just went on forever. 54 00:03:12,966 --> 00:03:17,533 {\an1}My dad, he'd be out there in his black beret, 55 00:03:17,566 --> 00:03:20,666 {\an1}and my sense was that he had this love affair 56 00:03:20,700 --> 00:03:23,733 with, with... with growing things. 57 00:03:23,766 --> 00:03:26,833 {\an8}VANCE: What many passersby 58 00:03:26,866 --> 00:03:30,600 {\an7}didn't realize was that the tulip grower 59 00:03:30,633 --> 00:03:33,933 {\an7}was also one of America's great scientists. 60 00:03:33,966 --> 00:03:36,100 {\an1}JULIAN (recorded): Ladies and gentlemen, essentially, 61 00:03:36,133 --> 00:03:38,466 {\an1}I'm going to talk with you about three plants, 62 00:03:38,500 --> 00:03:39,666 {\an1}three marvelous plants... 63 00:03:39,700 --> 00:03:42,200 {\an1}JULIAN (dramatized): ...three marvelous plants 64 00:03:42,233 --> 00:03:44,766 {\an1}that make the words of the psalmist come true 65 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:46,900 {\an1}and ring true again. 66 00:03:46,933 --> 00:03:50,866 {\an1}"Consider the lilies of the field: they toil not, 67 00:03:50,900 --> 00:03:55,466 {\an1}"neither do they spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory 68 00:03:55,500 --> 00:03:59,933 {\an1}was never arrayed like one of these." 69 00:03:59,966 --> 00:04:03,166 VANCE: It was not simply the beauty of plants 70 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,066 {\an1}that captivated Percy Julian, 71 00:04:06,100 --> 00:04:07,433 {\an1}but their ability to produce 72 00:04:07,466 --> 00:04:11,600 {\an1}an endless variety of powerful chemicals. 73 00:04:11,633 --> 00:04:15,766 {\an1}In the 1930s, Julian set out to tap what he called 74 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,933 {\an1}the "natural laboratories" of plants 75 00:04:18,966 --> 00:04:21,133 {\an1}to make a new class of drugs 76 00:04:21,166 --> 00:04:23,333 {\an1}that would help millions of people. 77 00:04:23,366 --> 00:04:24,733 Spoiled? What do you mean, spoiled? 78 00:04:24,766 --> 00:04:27,633 VANCE: Julian fought through extraordinary obstacles 79 00:04:27,666 --> 00:04:30,233 {\an1}to make a place for himself in a profession 80 00:04:30,266 --> 00:04:32,033 {\an1}and a country divided by race. 81 00:04:32,066 --> 00:04:33,766 JAMES ANDERSON: The message from white society 82 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:35,766 is very clear: 83 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:37,433 {\an1}it is not your achievement or your merit 84 00:04:37,466 --> 00:04:39,100 {\an1}or your accomplishments that matter, 85 00:04:39,133 --> 00:04:43,833 {\an1}it's the color of your skin, andbecause of that you're rejected. 86 00:04:43,866 --> 00:04:47,666 PETSKO: Yet over and over again, he doesn't let this stop him. 87 00:04:47,700 --> 00:04:51,400 {\an1}He presses on, sure that his vision of where he wants to go 88 00:04:51,433 --> 00:04:53,633 and how he wants to get there is right. 89 00:04:53,666 --> 00:04:56,000 Stop! 90 00:04:56,033 --> 00:04:57,833 JAMES SHOFFNER: After Percy Julian, 91 00:04:57,866 --> 00:05:03,033 {\an1}nobody could say anymorethat Blacks couldn't do science, 92 00:05:03,066 --> 00:05:06,566 {\an1}because he was atthe very top of his profession. 93 00:05:12,166 --> 00:05:15,366 {\an7}The story I will tell you tonight 94 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:20,000 {\an7}is a story of wonder and amazement, 95 00:05:20,033 --> 00:05:23,600 {\an7}almost a story of miracles. 96 00:05:23,633 --> 00:05:27,266 {\an7}It is a story of laughter and tears. 97 00:05:27,300 --> 00:05:32,066 {\an7}It is a story of human beings, 98 00:05:32,100 --> 00:05:36,966 {\an7}therefore, a story of meanness, of stupidity, 99 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,566 {\an7}of kindness and nobility. 100 00:05:41,766 --> 00:05:44,966 {\an1}One beautiful morning, 101 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,566 {\an1}when I was 12 years old, I went berry-picking 102 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,466 {\an1}on my grandfather's farm in Alabama. 103 00:05:50,500 --> 00:05:53,600 {\an1}I shall never forget how beautiful life seemed 104 00:05:53,633 --> 00:05:55,166 {\an1}to me that morning... 105 00:05:58,666 --> 00:06:01,300 {\an1}...under the spell of an Alabama forest. 106 00:06:01,333 --> 00:06:04,500 ♪ 107 00:06:04,533 --> 00:06:07,400 But in the midst of that beauty... 108 00:06:11,966 --> 00:06:14,266 {\an1}...I came across a Negro body 109 00:06:14,300 --> 00:06:16,933 {\an1}hanging from a tree. 110 00:06:16,966 --> 00:06:20,633 {\an1}He had been lynched a few hours earlier. 111 00:06:23,266 --> 00:06:25,900 {\an1}He didn't look like a criminal; 112 00:06:25,933 --> 00:06:30,100 {\an1}he just looked like a scared boy. 113 00:06:30,133 --> 00:06:35,433 ♪ 114 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,733 {\an1}On the way back, I encountered 115 00:06:43,766 --> 00:06:46,866 {\an1}and killed a rattlesnake. 116 00:06:46,900 --> 00:06:50,100 {\an1}For years afterward, every time I saw a white man, 117 00:06:50,133 --> 00:06:52,866 {\an1}I involuntarily saw the contours 118 00:06:52,900 --> 00:06:56,500 {\an1}of a rattlesnake head on his face. 119 00:06:56,533 --> 00:06:59,566 {\an1}Many years later, a reporter asked me 120 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:05,566 {\an1}what were my greatest nightmaresfrom my childhood in the South. 121 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:11,400 {\an1}I told him, "White folks and rattlesnakes." 122 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:20,166 VANCE: Percy Lavon Julian was born in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1899, 123 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:23,200 at a time when Southerners lived under a system 124 00:07:23,233 --> 00:07:27,700 {\an1}of forced segregation called Jim Crow. 125 00:07:27,733 --> 00:07:30,800 ANDERSON:I think the greatest consequence of Jim Crow is fear. 126 00:07:30,833 --> 00:07:34,900 {\an7}You knew if you said the wrongthing or went in the wrong door 127 00:07:34,933 --> 00:07:36,766 {\an7}or drank out of the wrong water fountain... 128 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,300 {\an7}that any of those things could lead to your death. 129 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,633 VANCE: To shelter his children from this oppressive atmosphere, 130 00:07:44,666 --> 00:07:48,166 {\an1}Julian's father turned to the world of ideas. 131 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,433 JULIAN: Every penny my father could 132 00:07:50,466 --> 00:07:52,400 scrape together went into building 133 00:07:52,433 --> 00:07:55,400 {\an1}a wonderful library for his children, 134 00:07:55,433 --> 00:07:57,866 {\an1}for the public library was closed to us. 135 00:07:59,733 --> 00:08:02,233 {\an1}My father created, in my imagination, 136 00:08:02,266 --> 00:08:06,866 {\an1}brave new worlds to conquer. 137 00:08:06,900 --> 00:08:11,633 VANCE: As a young man, James Julian had been a schoolteacher. 138 00:08:11,666 --> 00:08:14,566 {\an1}His wife Elizabeth was a teacher, too. 139 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,000 {\an1}They believed education offered the path 140 00:08:18,033 --> 00:08:21,033 {\an1}to a better life for Black people. 141 00:08:21,066 --> 00:08:22,300 {\an1}I'm going to show yousomething. 142 00:08:22,333 --> 00:08:24,400 VANCE: Denied his own chance to go to college, 143 00:08:24,433 --> 00:08:29,266 {\an1}James made it his mission to send his children instead, 144 00:08:29,300 --> 00:08:31,533 {\an1}but it would not be easy. 145 00:08:31,566 --> 00:08:34,400 In Montgomery, and across most of the South, 146 00:08:34,433 --> 00:08:37,133 {\an1}public schools for Black children simply stopped 147 00:08:37,166 --> 00:08:39,733 {\an1}after the eighth grade. 148 00:08:39,766 --> 00:08:41,866 ANDERSON:The message from white society, to Black students, 149 00:08:41,900 --> 00:08:43,900 {\an1}was that you should have just enough education 150 00:08:43,933 --> 00:08:46,266 {\an1}to be good field hands and good laborers, 151 00:08:46,300 --> 00:08:49,500 {\an1}cooks and maids and so forth. 152 00:08:49,533 --> 00:08:54,366 VANCE: With no high school to attend,Percy Julian completed two years 153 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,533 {\an1}at the local teacher training school for Negroes. 154 00:08:59,333 --> 00:09:03,466 {\an1}In 1916, with barely a tenth-grade education, 155 00:09:03,500 --> 00:09:07,600 {\an1}Percy Julian became the first member of his family 156 00:09:07,633 --> 00:09:09,800 {\an1}to live out his father's dream. 157 00:09:09,833 --> 00:09:13,100 JULIAN: During the hectic week of preparations, 158 00:09:13,133 --> 00:09:17,733 {\an1}my father had taken me aside for a long talk. 159 00:09:17,766 --> 00:09:22,466 {\an1}"This is the greatest moment of your life," he told me. 160 00:09:22,500 --> 00:09:25,533 "But it is also a great responsibility, 161 00:09:25,566 --> 00:09:28,666 {\an1}"for you are now beginning to create a family, 162 00:09:28,700 --> 00:09:31,433 {\an1}a family of educated people." 163 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:35,733 There they were, 164 00:09:35,766 --> 00:09:37,933 {\an1}three generations of hope 165 00:09:37,966 --> 00:09:39,633 and prayer, 166 00:09:39,666 --> 00:09:43,066 {\an1}waving to a fourth generation that was going off to college. 167 00:09:43,100 --> 00:09:45,100 And why? 168 00:09:45,133 --> 00:09:47,800 Because they had the simple faith 169 00:09:47,833 --> 00:09:50,433 {\an1}that the last great hope of the Earth 170 00:09:50,466 --> 00:09:53,766 is education for all the people. 171 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:57,966 ♪ 172 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,566 VANCE: Julian's destination was DePauw University, 173 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:06,466 {\an1}a small liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana. 174 00:10:06,500 --> 00:10:11,533 {\an1}DePauw had accepted a few Black students since the Civil War, 175 00:10:11,566 --> 00:10:14,266 {\an1}but expected them to know their place. 176 00:10:16,533 --> 00:10:20,633 ANDERSON: A Black student entering a white university-- 177 00:10:20,666 --> 00:10:22,500 {\an1}if they didn't know before they arrived, 178 00:10:22,533 --> 00:10:24,233 {\an1}they found out, pretty quickly, 179 00:10:24,266 --> 00:10:26,133 {\an1}that they were not welcome in the university 180 00:10:26,166 --> 00:10:27,533 {\an1}or in the community. 181 00:10:27,566 --> 00:10:29,433 {\an1}Let's go over this way... 182 00:10:29,466 --> 00:10:31,333 VANCE: Instead of being assigned to a dorm 183 00:10:31,366 --> 00:10:33,633 {\an1}like his white classmates, 184 00:10:33,666 --> 00:10:36,800 {\an1}Julian was shown to an off-campus room 185 00:10:36,833 --> 00:10:40,233 {\an1}with a slop jar for a toilet. 186 00:10:40,266 --> 00:10:41,666 {\an1}I soon got up enough courage 187 00:10:41,700 --> 00:10:44,500 {\an1}to ask Mrs. Townsend what time we would have dinner, 188 00:10:44,533 --> 00:10:46,400 {\an1}but she tersely informed me 189 00:10:46,433 --> 00:10:50,966 {\an1}that she was not expected to give me my meals. 190 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,200 VANCE: Julian wandered the streets of Greencastle 191 00:10:54,233 --> 00:10:57,100 {\an1}for a day and a half before finding a diner 192 00:10:57,133 --> 00:10:59,233 {\an1}that would serve a Negro. 193 00:10:59,266 --> 00:11:02,900 {\an1}He would continue to take his meals off campus 194 00:11:02,933 --> 00:11:07,900 {\an1}until he learned of an opening at the Sigma Chi fraternity. 195 00:11:07,933 --> 00:11:10,066 {\an1}In exchange for waiting on his housemates 196 00:11:10,100 --> 00:11:11,866 {\an1}and firing their furnace, 197 00:11:11,900 --> 00:11:14,900 {\an1}Julian could have a room in the basement. 198 00:11:14,933 --> 00:11:17,500 {\an1}He soon felt at ease in the fraternity. 199 00:11:17,533 --> 00:11:20,566 The classroom was a different matter. 200 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:23,600 ANDERSON:You sit in a classroom with kids who have read things 201 00:11:23,633 --> 00:11:25,166 {\an1}that you never heard of. 202 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:26,766 {\an1}They've taken math courses that you haven't taken, 203 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:29,433 and so one of the academic challenges 204 00:11:29,466 --> 00:11:32,600 {\an1}is to try to hold on until you can catch up. 205 00:11:34,433 --> 00:11:37,733 VANCE:For two years Julian would take remedial classes 206 00:11:37,766 --> 00:11:39,300 {\an1}at a local high school 207 00:11:39,333 --> 00:11:42,600 in addition to his normal course load. 208 00:11:42,633 --> 00:11:45,800 JULIAN:I remember writing to my father, 209 00:11:45,833 --> 00:11:48,033 {\an1}"I know you and Mother have always known 210 00:11:48,066 --> 00:11:49,800 {\an1}"what was best for me, 211 00:11:49,833 --> 00:11:53,033 {\an1}"but I think you made a mistake by sending me 212 00:11:53,066 --> 00:11:56,466 to compete with these white students." 213 00:12:00,033 --> 00:12:02,333 VANCE: But by his sophomore year, 214 00:12:02,366 --> 00:12:05,333 {\an1}Julian was gaining fast on his white classmates, 215 00:12:05,366 --> 00:12:07,266 thanks in part to the encouragement 216 00:12:07,300 --> 00:12:10,866 {\an1}of chemistry professor William Blanchard. 217 00:12:10,900 --> 00:12:15,633 {\an1}Blanchard had what one studentcalled "a contagious enthusiasm 218 00:12:15,666 --> 00:12:17,433 {\an1}for discovering the unknown." 219 00:12:17,466 --> 00:12:19,266 {\an1}Under his tutelage, 220 00:12:19,300 --> 00:12:22,600 {\an1}Julian began to dream of a career 221 00:12:22,633 --> 00:12:24,766 {\an1}as a research chemist. 222 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:29,266 {\an1}Only one African-American had ever earned a doctorate 223 00:12:29,300 --> 00:12:30,466 in chemistry. 224 00:12:30,500 --> 00:12:34,700 {\an1}His name was St. Elmo Brady. 225 00:12:34,733 --> 00:12:39,000 {\an1}Julian decided that if Brady could do it, so could he. 226 00:12:39,033 --> 00:12:41,533 {\an1}After four years, 227 00:12:41,566 --> 00:12:46,933 {\an1}he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and first in his class. 228 00:12:46,966 --> 00:12:48,633 JULIAN: At commencement time, 229 00:12:48,666 --> 00:12:51,900 {\an1}my great-grandmother bared her shoulders 230 00:12:51,933 --> 00:12:55,300 {\an1}and she showed me for the first time 231 00:12:55,333 --> 00:12:59,500 {\an1}the deep scars that had remainedfrom a beating she had received 232 00:12:59,533 --> 00:13:03,833 {\an1}when one day during the waning days of the Civil War, 233 00:13:03,866 --> 00:13:07,466 {\an1}she went through the Negro quarters and cried out, 234 00:13:07,500 --> 00:13:11,866 {\an1}"Get yourselves ready, children, the Yankees are coming! 235 00:13:11,900 --> 00:13:16,000 {\an1}The Lord has heard our prayers!" 236 00:13:16,033 --> 00:13:20,033 {\an1}And then, proudly, she took my Phi Beta Kappa key 237 00:13:20,066 --> 00:13:26,266 {\an1}in her hand and she said, "This is worth all the scars." 238 00:13:28,433 --> 00:13:30,900 VANCE: Encouraged by Percy's success, 239 00:13:30,933 --> 00:13:34,166 {\an1}his father moved the whole family north to Greencastle 240 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:37,666 to send the rest of the children to DePauw. 241 00:13:37,700 --> 00:13:41,800 {\an1}Eventually, Julian's two brothers would become doctors, 242 00:13:41,833 --> 00:13:44,900 {\an1}and his three sisters would earn master's degrees. 243 00:13:44,933 --> 00:13:46,600 JULIAN: I shall never forget 244 00:13:46,633 --> 00:13:49,233 {\an1}an anxious week of waiting in 1920 245 00:13:49,266 --> 00:13:52,933 {\an1}to see if I would get into graduate school. 246 00:13:52,966 --> 00:13:55,600 {\an1}I stood by as day by day, 247 00:13:55,633 --> 00:14:00,466 {\an1}my fellow students in chemistry said, "I'm going to Illinois," 248 00:14:00,500 --> 00:14:04,100 {\an1}"I'm going to Ohio State," or "I'm going to Michigan." 249 00:14:04,133 --> 00:14:06,333 {\an1}"Where are you going?" they asked. 250 00:14:06,366 --> 00:14:08,033 {\an1}And they answered for me: 251 00:14:08,066 --> 00:14:11,733 {\an1}"You must be waiting for the Harvard plum." 252 00:14:11,766 --> 00:14:14,300 {\an1}I could stand the suspense no longer. 253 00:14:14,333 --> 00:14:15,666 {\an1}I went to Professor Blanchard, 254 00:14:15,700 --> 00:14:20,166 {\an1}and there he showed me numerous letters from men 255 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,066 {\an1}who had really meant "God" to me; 256 00:14:23,100 --> 00:14:28,366 {\an1}great American chemists of their day. 257 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,366 {\an1}"Discourage your bright-colored lad," they wrote. 258 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:34,733 {\an1}"We couldn't get him a job when he's done, 259 00:14:34,766 --> 00:14:36,800 {\an1}"and it'll only mean frustration. 260 00:14:36,833 --> 00:14:39,466 {\an1}"Why don't you find him a teaching job 261 00:14:39,500 --> 00:14:42,500 {\an1}"in a Negro college in the South? 262 00:14:42,533 --> 00:14:45,366 {\an1}He doesn't need a Ph.D. for that." 263 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:47,633 {\an1}(train whistle blares) 264 00:14:47,666 --> 00:14:49,466 ANDERSON: What happened to Julian 265 00:14:49,500 --> 00:14:54,000 {\an1}was something that would havebeen common throughout the land. 266 00:14:54,033 --> 00:14:57,366 {\an1}To have a good college education was way beyond anything 267 00:14:57,400 --> 00:14:59,533 {\an1}that one would expect for an African-American. 268 00:14:59,566 --> 00:15:02,066 {\an1}And so there's the sense that he'd had enough. 269 00:15:02,100 --> 00:15:04,166 "Stop here. 270 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:05,466 {\an1}"Be content with this. 271 00:15:05,500 --> 00:15:06,933 {\an1}Go back and teach your people." 272 00:15:06,966 --> 00:15:10,566 (train chugging, whistle blaring) 273 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:16,000 VANCE: In 1920, Julian reluctantlyreturned to the South to teach, 274 00:15:16,033 --> 00:15:19,566 {\an1}but he clung to the dream of earning his Ph.D. 275 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,166 {\an1}At 21, he was embarking on a quest 276 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:26,600 that would last more than ten years. 277 00:15:29,066 --> 00:15:32,366 {\an1}His first stop was Fisk University in Nashville, 278 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:36,866 {\an1}one of the best Negro colleges in the country. 279 00:15:36,900 --> 00:15:41,600 {\an1}His idol, St. Elmo Brady, had studied at Fisk. 280 00:15:41,633 --> 00:15:44,100 {\an1}But Julian chafed at the limitations 281 00:15:44,133 --> 00:15:46,300 {\an1}of the Black college system: 282 00:15:46,333 --> 00:15:49,333 {\an1}overcrowded classrooms, inadequate libraries, 283 00:15:49,366 --> 00:15:53,066 {\an1}and poorly equipped laboratories. 284 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:57,166 {\an8}After two years, he was on the move again. 285 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:01,333 {\an1}Julian had won a scholarship to study chemistry 286 00:16:01,366 --> 00:16:03,366 {\an1}at one of America's most famous universities. 287 00:16:04,933 --> 00:16:09,033 JULIAN: No Negro has yet obtainedhis master's degree in chemistry 288 00:16:09,066 --> 00:16:13,833 {\an1}at Harvard, and so I'm upagainst a hard situation again. 289 00:16:13,866 --> 00:16:15,833 {\an1}♪ 290 00:16:15,866 --> 00:16:17,833 ANDERSON: When Julian arrived at Harvard in 1922, 291 00:16:17,866 --> 00:16:20,633 the racial climate was probably worse than it had been 292 00:16:20,666 --> 00:16:22,333 {\an8}at any point in the 20th century. 293 00:16:22,366 --> 00:16:26,400 VANCE:President Abbott Lawrence Lowell had set the tone 294 00:16:26,433 --> 00:16:32,033 {\an1}by banning Black studentsfrom the dorms in Harvard Yard. 295 00:16:32,066 --> 00:16:34,533 {\an1}Julian sailed through his first year 296 00:16:34,566 --> 00:16:39,033 {\an1}and earned his master's degree in the spring of 1923. 297 00:16:39,066 --> 00:16:41,833 {\an1}He continued his studies 298 00:16:41,866 --> 00:16:46,366 {\an1}for three more years, but left Harvard without his doctorate. 299 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,433 {\an1}Years later, he would bitterly tell friends 300 00:16:49,466 --> 00:16:51,366 {\an1}he had been denied the teaching assistantship 301 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:53,466 {\an1}he needed to stay in school. 302 00:16:53,500 --> 00:16:55,833 ANDERSON: If you were going to be a teaching assistant 303 00:16:55,866 --> 00:16:59,466 {\an1}and teach white students, that was a no-no. 304 00:16:59,500 --> 00:17:03,233 {\an1}That's just hardly acceptable at that time and that place. 305 00:17:03,266 --> 00:17:05,033 {\an1}If you were denied that, 306 00:17:05,066 --> 00:17:06,700 {\an1}you were also denied the opportunity 307 00:17:06,733 --> 00:17:08,200 {\an1}to finance your education. 308 00:17:08,233 --> 00:17:12,033 VANCE: Julian spent an unhappy year teaching 309 00:17:12,066 --> 00:17:16,366 {\an1}at a small Black college near Charleston, West Virginia. 310 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:18,433 {\an1}Then his fortunes turned. 311 00:17:18,466 --> 00:17:20,566 He was invited to join the faculty 312 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:23,633 {\an1}at the nation's mostdistinguished Black university: 313 00:17:23,666 --> 00:17:27,500 {\an1}Howard University in Washington, D.C. 314 00:17:27,533 --> 00:17:32,666 {\an1}He was replacing St. Elmo Brady, who was returning to Fisk. 315 00:17:32,700 --> 00:17:36,166 {\an1}Julian went straight to work, 316 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:38,900 {\an1}designing a new chemistry building and honing 317 00:17:38,933 --> 00:17:40,666 {\an1}a distinctive lecture style. 318 00:17:40,700 --> 00:17:41,933 JULIAN: I should warn you 319 00:17:41,966 --> 00:17:45,466 {\an1}that scientists are traditionally poor speakers, 320 00:17:45,500 --> 00:17:46,833 {\an1}because they have a hard time 321 00:17:46,866 --> 00:17:49,133 letting go of their gobbledy-gook. 322 00:17:49,166 --> 00:17:51,400 {\an1}"Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home" 323 00:17:51,433 --> 00:17:53,866 {\an1}becomes impossiblewhen you must call the ladybird 324 00:17:53,900 --> 00:17:56,000 {\an1}"Coccinella bipunctata." 325 00:17:56,033 --> 00:17:59,200 (laughter) 326 00:17:59,233 --> 00:18:01,533 VANCE: Despite his growing stature at Howard, 327 00:18:01,566 --> 00:18:05,333 {\an1}Julian was still determined to earn his Ph.D. 328 00:18:05,366 --> 00:18:11,033 In 1929, he finally got his chance. 329 00:18:11,066 --> 00:18:12,633 {\an1}He won a fellowship 330 00:18:12,666 --> 00:18:15,166 {\an1}that allowed him to take a leave from Howard 331 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:19,500 {\an1}to study at the University of Vienna in Austria. 332 00:18:19,533 --> 00:18:23,033 {\an1}He was about to begin a lifelong inquiry 333 00:18:23,066 --> 00:18:26,600 {\an1}into the chemistry of plants. 334 00:18:26,633 --> 00:18:28,600 PETSKO: For thousands of years, 335 00:18:28,633 --> 00:18:32,033 {\an7}long before there was such athing as a science of chemistry, 336 00:18:32,066 --> 00:18:34,100 {\an7}people were fascinated by plants 337 00:18:34,133 --> 00:18:36,433 {\an7}because they knew that plants contained substances 338 00:18:36,466 --> 00:18:38,133 {\an1}that could affect people. 339 00:18:38,166 --> 00:18:41,200 {\an1}Coffee will keep you awake. 340 00:18:41,233 --> 00:18:45,466 {\an1}Tobacco contains something that will calm your nerves. 341 00:18:45,500 --> 00:18:49,533 {\an1}Foxglove contains an extract that'll affect your heart. 342 00:18:49,566 --> 00:18:52,233 {\an1}And the whole goal of chemistry 343 00:18:52,266 --> 00:18:54,000 {\an1}in the early part of the 20th century 344 00:18:54,033 --> 00:18:56,600 {\an1}was to understand what these natural products were, 345 00:18:56,633 --> 00:18:59,600 to characterize their chemical structures 346 00:18:59,633 --> 00:19:01,666 and figure out how to make them. 347 00:19:01,700 --> 00:19:04,566 {\an1}This was called "natural products chemistry." 348 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:06,100 {\an1}It was the main branch of chemistry. 349 00:19:06,133 --> 00:19:11,133 {\an1}And in 1929, Vienna, in Austria, 350 00:19:11,166 --> 00:19:14,600 was the seat of natural products chemistry. 351 00:19:14,633 --> 00:19:18,233 And that's why Percy Julian went there. 352 00:19:18,266 --> 00:19:20,400 ♪ 353 00:19:20,433 --> 00:19:23,333 VANCE: Julian arrived at Vienna's Chemische Institut 354 00:19:23,366 --> 00:19:25,800 with huge crates of ground glassware, 355 00:19:25,833 --> 00:19:30,500 items the Viennese students had heard about but never seen. 356 00:19:30,533 --> 00:19:31,800 Yes, yes. 357 00:19:31,833 --> 00:19:33,966 BERNHARD WITKOP: The unpacking became a big ceremony 358 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:38,733 {\an7}surrounded by fellow students, who oohed and aahed 359 00:19:38,766 --> 00:19:42,166 {\an7}about the wonders that came out of these crates. 360 00:19:43,533 --> 00:19:46,833 VANCE: Among the onlookers was Josef Pikl, 361 00:19:46,866 --> 00:19:50,133 {\an1}a chemist who would become one of Julian's closest friends 362 00:19:50,166 --> 00:19:52,000 {\an1}and collaborators. 363 00:19:52,033 --> 00:19:53,700 {\an1}They had come to Vienna 364 00:19:53,733 --> 00:19:57,866 {\an1}to study under the renowned scientist Ernst Spaäth. 365 00:19:57,900 --> 00:20:02,966 {\an1}Spaäth was a giant in the field of natural products chemistry. 366 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:04,966 {\an1}He had a particular interest 367 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:08,100 {\an1}in a family of compounds called alkaloids. 368 00:20:08,133 --> 00:20:10,033 PETSKO: Of all the natural products, 369 00:20:10,066 --> 00:20:13,533 the ones that fascinated people the most were the alkaloids 370 00:20:13,566 --> 00:20:15,233 {\an1}because they seemed the most powerful. 371 00:20:15,266 --> 00:20:18,033 {\an1}A thimbleful of some alkaloids would bring down an elephant. 372 00:20:20,833 --> 00:20:23,733 VANCE: It's believed that many alkaloids evolved 373 00:20:23,766 --> 00:20:28,133 to protect plants from organisms that might eat or harm them, 374 00:20:28,166 --> 00:20:30,400 {\an1}but these same compounds 375 00:20:30,433 --> 00:20:33,800 {\an1}can have unexpected effects on people. 376 00:20:33,833 --> 00:20:35,466 PETSKO: We now know, for example, 377 00:20:35,500 --> 00:20:37,766 that it's an alkaloid, caffeine, that's responsible 378 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:39,733 {\an1}for the stimulant effect of coffee beans. 379 00:20:39,766 --> 00:20:43,433 {\an1}We also know that it's an alkaloid called nicotine 380 00:20:43,466 --> 00:20:46,566 {\an1}that's the calming influence in tobacco plants. 381 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:52,366 {\an1}Other alkaloids are things like morphine, strychnine, cocaine. 382 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,400 {\an1}A whole host of things that we now know are drugs, 383 00:20:55,433 --> 00:20:58,366 {\an1}turn out to be plant alkaloids. 384 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,766 VANCE: By 1929, it was known that an alkaloid 385 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,166 {\an1}from the root of a common Austrian shrub 386 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,133 {\an1}called Corydalis cava was effective 387 00:21:09,166 --> 00:21:12,266 in treating pain and heart palpitations. 388 00:21:12,300 --> 00:21:16,800 {\an1}Spaäth asked Julian to find out why. 389 00:21:16,833 --> 00:21:19,066 DAGMAR RINGE: And so the question was 390 00:21:19,100 --> 00:21:22,866 {\an7}which compound, which precise compound in this tuber, 391 00:21:22,900 --> 00:21:26,233 {\an7}is responsible for the biological effect 392 00:21:26,266 --> 00:21:28,633 {\an1}that one is seeing? 393 00:21:28,666 --> 00:21:32,566 VANCE: Isolate the active ingredient in Corydalis cava, 394 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:34,666 {\an1}and then identify its chemical structure; 395 00:21:34,700 --> 00:21:37,133 {\an1}this was the challenge Julian would have 396 00:21:37,166 --> 00:21:39,966 {\an1}to meet to earn his Ph.D. 397 00:21:42,033 --> 00:21:45,533 {\an1}Free at last of teaching and administrative duties, 398 00:21:45,566 --> 00:21:50,966 {\an1}he threw himself into his research as never before. 399 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,600 JULIAN: For the first time in my life, 400 00:21:53,633 --> 00:21:59,400 {\an1}I represent a creating, alive and wide-awake chemist. 401 00:21:59,433 --> 00:22:04,100 {\an1}I recognize that publications and research will be, for me, 402 00:22:04,133 --> 00:22:08,800 {\an1}as natural a thing as going to bed and eating a meal. 403 00:22:08,833 --> 00:22:13,900 {\an1}Truly, I was the luckiest guy in all the world to land here. 404 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,633 VANCE:Just outside the laboratory was a vibrant world 405 00:22:19,666 --> 00:22:22,833 {\an1}Julian was eager to explore. 406 00:22:22,866 --> 00:22:26,333 {\an1}A fellow student, Edwin Mosettig, 407 00:22:26,366 --> 00:22:28,366 {\an1}took the American under his wing. 408 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:33,000 {\an1}Soon Julian was joining the Mosettig family for ski trips, 409 00:22:33,033 --> 00:22:36,133 {\an1}swims in the Danube and the opera. 410 00:22:36,166 --> 00:22:37,666 ♪ 411 00:22:37,700 --> 00:22:41,900 WITKOP: The mother of Edwin Mosettig was a famous musician, 412 00:22:41,933 --> 00:22:44,533 {\an1}and the Mosettig house was a center 413 00:22:44,566 --> 00:22:46,433 {\an1}for social activity. 414 00:22:46,466 --> 00:22:48,500 {\an1}So in that way, Percy got access 415 00:22:48,533 --> 00:22:51,233 {\an1}to layers of the society 416 00:22:51,266 --> 00:22:53,166 {\an1}that were inaccessible 417 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,233 in America. 418 00:22:56,266 --> 00:22:59,433 {\an1}Black persons in Europe 419 00:22:59,466 --> 00:23:01,166 were very rare, 420 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:05,300 {\an1}and Percy, for the first time in his life, fully unfolded, 421 00:23:05,333 --> 00:23:09,033 {\an1}because he was admired there. 422 00:23:09,066 --> 00:23:10,866 VANCE: In letter after letter, 423 00:23:10,900 --> 00:23:13,366 he described his busy social life 424 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,133 {\an1}to colleagues back at Howard. 425 00:23:15,166 --> 00:23:20,066 JULIAN: And now a little news: I have the prettiest girl in Vienna. 426 00:23:20,100 --> 00:23:22,233 {\an1}You have never gazed on such beauty. 427 00:23:22,266 --> 00:23:24,200 {\an1}Monday night, we were in the opera 428 00:23:24,233 --> 00:23:26,433 {\an1}and heard Beethoven's "Fidelio." 429 00:23:26,466 --> 00:23:28,966 {\an1}Nature makes its demands, 430 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,766 {\an1}so I've made a date with my little German sweetheart. 431 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:34,400 {\an1}They didn't lie when they talked of beautiful Viennese women. 432 00:23:34,433 --> 00:23:36,033 {\an1}...sweetest wine cellar you ever saw 433 00:23:36,066 --> 00:23:39,000 {\an1}and drank till 3:00 a.m. 434 00:23:40,933 --> 00:23:42,633 ♪ 435 00:23:42,666 --> 00:23:44,566 VANCE: But at 7:55 each morning, 436 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:46,666 Julian was back in the laboratory, 437 00:23:46,700 --> 00:23:51,733 {\an1}working under the watchful eye of a man so severe, 438 00:23:51,766 --> 00:23:53,566 {\an1}he would immediately fail a student 439 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,166 {\an1}he considered lazy or untalented. 440 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,400 {\an1}The pressure was mounting on Julian 441 00:24:00,433 --> 00:24:01,800 {\an1}to isolate the elusive alkaloids 442 00:24:01,833 --> 00:24:05,633 {\an1}on which his dissertation depended. 443 00:24:05,666 --> 00:24:08,233 JULIAN: The last two months, 444 00:24:08,266 --> 00:24:11,800 {\an1}I have passed through a hellish siege of work. 445 00:24:11,833 --> 00:24:16,433 {\an1}Reaction upon reaction, 446 00:24:16,466 --> 00:24:20,766 {\an1}and yet I stand at the door and knock, as it were. 447 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,566 {\an1}I don't know a damned thing. 448 00:24:27,666 --> 00:24:29,966 VANCE: The alkaloids that puzzled Julian, 449 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,433 {\an1}like most of the molecules of life, 450 00:24:32,466 --> 00:24:36,500 {\an1}are made, primarily, of carbon. 451 00:24:36,533 --> 00:24:40,833 {\an1}Carbon is really the Super Glue of the chemical world, 452 00:24:40,866 --> 00:24:46,133 {\an7}in the sense that carbon can bond to itself 453 00:24:46,166 --> 00:24:48,366 {\an1}in almost an infinite number of ways. 454 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,633 RINGE: In this model, for instance, I can make a chain 455 00:24:51,666 --> 00:24:56,266 {\an1}of carbons that continues, practically infinitely. 456 00:24:56,300 --> 00:25:00,900 {\an1}However, it can also come together 457 00:25:00,933 --> 00:25:03,400 {\an1}into a ring structure, 458 00:25:03,433 --> 00:25:07,500 {\an1}in this case a six-carbon ring structure. 459 00:25:09,333 --> 00:25:11,466 {\an8}VANCE: The carbon ring is one of nature's 460 00:25:11,500 --> 00:25:13,900 {\an7}fundamental building blocks, 461 00:25:13,933 --> 00:25:17,700 {\an7}found in an endless variety of compounds. 462 00:25:17,733 --> 00:25:19,500 {\an7}Members of the alkaloid family 463 00:25:19,533 --> 00:25:22,566 {\an7}all have one or more nitrogen atoms. 464 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:26,133 {\an7}But otherwise their structures vary widely, 465 00:25:26,166 --> 00:25:28,633 {\an7}which presented Julian with a formidable challenge. 466 00:25:28,666 --> 00:25:32,166 {\an8}NED HEINDEL: He was working in some very difficult chemistry. 467 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:37,066 {\an7}When you don't know anything about what the structure is 468 00:25:37,100 --> 00:25:38,533 {\an7}of the material you're isolating, 469 00:25:38,566 --> 00:25:42,666 {\an1}you have to tear your molecule apart, atom by atom, 470 00:25:42,700 --> 00:25:45,066 {\an1}and try to deduce the structure. 471 00:25:45,100 --> 00:25:49,366 RINGE: It's like finding a needle in a haystack. 472 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:51,733 {\an1}It requires stubbornness. 473 00:25:51,766 --> 00:25:53,533 {\an1}It requires focus. 474 00:25:53,566 --> 00:25:55,733 {\an1}It requires repeating, over and over, 475 00:25:55,766 --> 00:25:56,766 {\an1}the same kinds of processes, 476 00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:59,933 {\an1}until the answers come out. 477 00:25:59,966 --> 00:26:04,133 VANCE: Slowly, the answers did come. 478 00:26:04,166 --> 00:26:06,266 {\an1}In his second year, 479 00:26:06,300 --> 00:26:09,600 {\an1}Julian finally identified the active alkaloid 480 00:26:09,633 --> 00:26:14,700 {\an1}in Corydalis cava, his first chemical triumph. 481 00:26:14,733 --> 00:26:18,433 {\an7}This work with Spaäth would be the foundation 482 00:26:18,466 --> 00:26:20,733 {\an7}of his future career. 483 00:26:20,766 --> 00:26:22,200 {\an8}WITKOP: When Ernst Spaäth 484 00:26:22,233 --> 00:26:28,433 {\an1}was asked about his student, Percy Julian, 485 00:26:28,466 --> 00:26:31,100 {\an1}he characterized him and said, 486 00:26:31,133 --> 00:26:34,633 {\an1}"Ein ausserordentlicher Student 487 00:26:34,666 --> 00:26:37,833 {\an1}wie ich in meiner Laufbahn noch nie gehabt habe." 488 00:26:37,866 --> 00:26:41,900 {\an1}"An extraordinary student, the likes I have never had 489 00:26:41,933 --> 00:26:45,766 {\an1}before in my career as a teacher." 490 00:26:47,333 --> 00:26:49,366 VANCE: Julian returned to America 491 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:52,066 {\an1}in the fall of 1931, 492 00:26:52,100 --> 00:26:55,833 {\an1}with the doctorate he hadpursued for more than a decade. 493 00:26:55,866 --> 00:26:59,533 {\an1}The years in Vienna had dramatically increased 494 00:26:59,566 --> 00:27:01,433 {\an1}his self-confidence. 495 00:27:01,466 --> 00:27:05,466 {\an1}But they had also sown the seeds of a personal catastrophe 496 00:27:05,500 --> 00:27:08,166 {\an1}that awaited him at Howard. 497 00:27:11,100 --> 00:27:14,566 ♪ 498 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,433 {\an1}Back in Washington, Julian set out to turn Howard 499 00:27:17,466 --> 00:27:20,166 {\an1}into a center for true chemical research, 500 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:23,533 {\an1}something his predecessor had been unable to do. 501 00:27:23,566 --> 00:27:27,833 {\an1}Burdened with teaching responsibilities, 502 00:27:27,866 --> 00:27:30,666 {\an1}St. Elmo Brady had not published a single research paper 503 00:27:30,700 --> 00:27:34,500 {\an1}in the 15 years since earning his Ph.D. 504 00:27:34,533 --> 00:27:39,000 {\an1}Julian was determined this would not happen to him. 505 00:27:39,033 --> 00:27:43,166 JULIAN:I am going to give every damned ounce of my energy 506 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:45,500 {\an1}towards plans to flood the chemical market 507 00:27:45,533 --> 00:27:48,166 {\an1}with as much research as the day's hours 508 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:50,933 {\an1}and my strength will allow. 509 00:27:50,966 --> 00:27:54,866 VANCE:He brought Josef Pikl over from Vienna, 510 00:27:54,900 --> 00:27:58,833 {\an1}and the two went straight to work on a series of papers. 511 00:27:58,866 --> 00:28:02,000 {\an1}When their first was accepted for publication, 512 00:28:02,033 --> 00:28:04,400 {\an1}Julian proudly noted it was the first 513 00:28:04,433 --> 00:28:07,800 {\an1}with a Black chemist as senior author. 514 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,733 {\an1}Percy Julian was now America's preeminent Black chemist 515 00:28:13,766 --> 00:28:19,666 {\an1}and, at Howard, one of PresidentMordecai Johnson's rising stars. 516 00:28:19,700 --> 00:28:22,700 {\an1}But Johnson had made many enemies 517 00:28:22,733 --> 00:28:24,733 {\an1}in his five years at Howard. 518 00:28:24,766 --> 00:28:26,600 {\an1}Soon Julian would be caught up 519 00:28:26,633 --> 00:28:28,233 {\an1}in university politics, 520 00:28:28,266 --> 00:28:30,533 {\an1}with disastrous results. 521 00:28:30,566 --> 00:28:34,166 {\an1}The trouble began when Julian, 522 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,166 {\an1}at the president's request, goaded a white chemist 523 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:40,200 {\an1}named Jacob Shohan into resigning. 524 00:28:40,233 --> 00:28:42,033 (shouting) 525 00:28:42,066 --> 00:28:46,166 {\an1}Shohan retaliated by releasing to the local Black press 526 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:51,366 {\an1}the letters Julian had written to him from Vienna. 527 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,800 {\an1}Julian's accounts of his romances, 528 00:28:53,833 --> 00:28:56,700 {\an1}his criticism of faculty members, 529 00:28:56,733 --> 00:28:58,933 {\an1}suddenly it was all public, 530 00:28:58,966 --> 00:29:01,966 {\an1}ammunition to be used against Julian and Johnson 531 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,200 {\an1}by the president's enemies. 532 00:29:04,233 --> 00:29:06,533 JULIAN: I have the prettiest girl in Vienna... 533 00:29:06,566 --> 00:29:08,366 {\an1}(overlapping voices) 534 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:12,600 VANCE: Just as Julian's letters began to appear in the press, 535 00:29:12,633 --> 00:29:14,966 {\an1}there was another bombshell. 536 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:18,233 {\an1}His laboratory assistant, Robert Thompson, 537 00:29:18,266 --> 00:29:21,933 {\an1}charged he had found his wife and Julian together. 538 00:29:21,966 --> 00:29:25,966 {\an1}Lawsuits flew between Julian and Thompson. 539 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,600 {\an1}When Thompson was fired for going public with his charges, 540 00:29:28,633 --> 00:29:31,100 {\an1}he released the letters that 541 00:29:31,133 --> 00:29:32,900 {\an1}Julian had written to him from Vienna. 542 00:29:32,933 --> 00:29:34,766 JULIAN: ...and drank till 3:00 a.m. 543 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:37,733 {\an1}Edwin and I were all stewed, and the girls were... 544 00:29:37,766 --> 00:29:39,733 VANCE: Through the summer of 1932, 545 00:29:39,766 --> 00:29:44,133 {\an1}the "Baltimore Afro-American" published letter after letter 546 00:29:44,166 --> 00:29:46,166 {\an1}from the man the newspaper dubbed 547 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,600 {\an1}"Howard's Prize Letter Writer." 548 00:29:49,633 --> 00:29:53,233 {\an1}Finally, under pressure from Johnson 549 00:29:53,266 --> 00:29:57,800 {\an1}and the Board of Trustees, Julian resigned. 550 00:29:58,300 --> 00:30:01,566 ♪ 551 00:30:04,500 --> 00:30:07,000 {\an1}It was the middle of the Great Depression. 552 00:30:07,033 --> 00:30:09,433 {\an1}Julian was a chemist 553 00:30:09,466 --> 00:30:11,533 {\an1}without a laboratory, 554 00:30:11,566 --> 00:30:14,833 {\an1}a Black man without a job. 555 00:30:16,733 --> 00:30:21,033 {\an1}Only a year after his triumphant return from Vienna, 556 00:30:21,066 --> 00:30:24,600 {\an1}the career he'd worked so hard to build 557 00:30:24,633 --> 00:30:28,066 was in ruins. 558 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:31,933 ♪ 559 00:30:35,633 --> 00:30:38,700 ♪ 560 00:30:38,733 --> 00:30:43,500 {\an1}When all seemed lost, Julian's mentor, William Blanchard, 561 00:30:43,533 --> 00:30:44,866 {\an1}threw him a lifeline, 562 00:30:44,900 --> 00:30:47,233 {\an1}bringing him back to DePauw 563 00:30:47,266 --> 00:30:50,766 {\an1}as a research fellow to supervise lab sections. 564 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:54,966 {\an1}It was a big step down from full professor 565 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,900 {\an1}and department chairman, but he had a lab again, 566 00:30:57,933 --> 00:31:01,000 {\an1}and his research partner, Josef Pikl, 567 00:31:01,033 --> 00:31:04,600 {\an1}would join him at DePauw. 568 00:31:04,633 --> 00:31:08,766 JULIAN: In much of my life I've hadto pick up the broken fragments 569 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:12,700 of chanceand turn them into opportunity. 570 00:31:12,733 --> 00:31:15,833 VANCE: Over the next three years, 571 00:31:15,866 --> 00:31:18,500 {\an1}11 of the student projects Julian supervised 572 00:31:18,533 --> 00:31:20,100 {\an1}would lead to papers in 573 00:31:20,133 --> 00:31:22,700 {\an1}the "Journal of the American Chemical Society." 574 00:31:22,733 --> 00:31:27,133 HEINDEL: Eleven undergraduate papers published in "JACS," 575 00:31:27,166 --> 00:31:29,166 {\an7}out of a student body of that size, 576 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:32,866 {\an7}was not only unusual for the1930s, it would be unusual now. 577 00:31:32,900 --> 00:31:37,400 {\an1}Julian took the talent in those students 578 00:31:37,433 --> 00:31:41,266 {\an1}and put that institution on themap for undergraduate research. 579 00:31:41,300 --> 00:31:45,833 VANCE: DePauw's newest instructor left a powerful impression 580 00:31:45,866 --> 00:31:48,200 {\an1}on undergraduate Ray Dawson. 581 00:31:48,233 --> 00:31:51,566 RAY DAWSON: He put on a grand show. 582 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:54,300 He would come into his lectures 583 00:31:54,333 --> 00:31:57,000 {\an7}in his white lab jacket, with a flourish. 584 00:31:57,033 --> 00:32:02,966 {\an1}He was oratorical in a way that some great scientist 585 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:07,066 {\an1}from London or Berlin might be. 586 00:32:07,100 --> 00:32:08,266 {\an1}It was just a show, 587 00:32:08,300 --> 00:32:11,633 (chuckles) but a very good one. 588 00:32:11,666 --> 00:32:14,966 VANCE: Julian had finally found fulfillment, 589 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:19,566 {\an1}a place where he could teach and research. 590 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,933 {\an1}But when the local American Legion assailed the school 591 00:32:22,966 --> 00:32:25,666 {\an1}for hiring a Negro who had been dismissed 592 00:32:25,700 --> 00:32:30,933 {\an1}from Howard University, Julian was forced to stop teaching. 593 00:32:30,966 --> 00:32:35,200 {\an1}He could stay on as long as his research grant lasted, 594 00:32:35,233 --> 00:32:38,633 {\an1}but his days at DePauw were numbered. 595 00:32:38,666 --> 00:32:43,166 {\an1}Everything he'd worked for was about to collapse again. 596 00:32:45,166 --> 00:32:47,633 JULIAN: I decided I had to do things 597 00:32:47,666 --> 00:32:50,466 {\an1}that would make people take more notice of me. 598 00:32:50,500 --> 00:32:54,933 VANCE: What he did was take on a high-stakes research project, 599 00:32:54,966 --> 00:32:57,733 {\an1}one that would either make him or break him. 600 00:32:57,766 --> 00:33:03,166 JULIAN: It all began with a simple little bean, the Calabar bean. 601 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:08,333 {\an1}Mmm, it was a beautifulpurple bean when I first got it. 602 00:33:08,366 --> 00:33:13,166 {\an1}But it is not only beautiful in its appearance, 603 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,666 {\an1}but also in the laboratory it has within it. 604 00:33:19,500 --> 00:33:22,000 {\an8}VANCE:Chemists had been fascinated by the Calabar bean 605 00:33:22,033 --> 00:33:24,433 {\an8}ever since British missionaries brought it back 606 00:33:24,466 --> 00:33:28,000 {\an7}from Africa in the mid-1800s. 607 00:33:28,033 --> 00:33:30,433 {\an7}From the bean, they had isolated an alkaloid 608 00:33:30,466 --> 00:33:35,666 {\an1}called physostigmine, used to treat glaucoma. 609 00:33:35,700 --> 00:33:39,900 {\an1}But no one had been able tosynthesize the complex molecule. 610 00:33:39,933 --> 00:33:42,300 PETSKO: Synthesis is the process 611 00:33:42,333 --> 00:33:44,833 {\an7}of making a natural product, 612 00:33:44,866 --> 00:33:47,666 {\an7}or some other substance, artificially, in the lab, 613 00:33:47,700 --> 00:33:49,300 {\an7}one step at a time, 614 00:33:49,333 --> 00:33:51,000 from extremely simple building blocks. 615 00:33:51,033 --> 00:33:54,600 VANCE: Synthesis was the highest calling 616 00:33:54,633 --> 00:33:56,866 {\an1}for a chemist in the 1930s. 617 00:33:56,900 --> 00:34:00,366 {\an1}A successful synthesis could bring great medical benefits, 618 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:04,033 {\an1}by making a scarce natural product more widely available. 619 00:34:04,066 --> 00:34:07,266 {\an1}Just as important, it proved beyond a doubt 620 00:34:07,300 --> 00:34:11,433 {\an1}that the chemist understood how the molecule was put together. 621 00:34:11,466 --> 00:34:16,133 HEINDEL: There were very few alkaloidsthat had been made from scratch 622 00:34:16,166 --> 00:34:17,233 in Julian's time. 623 00:34:17,266 --> 00:34:19,800 {\an1}The synthesis of physostigmine 624 00:34:19,833 --> 00:34:22,733 {\an1}would bring recognition to whoever achieved it. 625 00:34:22,766 --> 00:34:27,000 {\an1}And that's what Percy Julian set out to do. 626 00:34:27,033 --> 00:34:28,266 VANCE: But Julian was not alone. 627 00:34:28,300 --> 00:34:31,300 {\an1}At Oxford University, another chemist 628 00:34:31,333 --> 00:34:35,233 {\an1}was at work on his own synthesis. 629 00:34:35,266 --> 00:34:38,100 {\an1}His name was Robert Robinson. 630 00:34:38,133 --> 00:34:40,633 HEINDEL: Sir Robert Robinson was sort of the dean 631 00:34:40,666 --> 00:34:43,300 of organic chemists in England. 632 00:34:43,333 --> 00:34:47,200 He was a much-respected creator of molecules, 633 00:34:47,233 --> 00:34:50,033 {\an1}a trainer of many Ph.D. students. 634 00:34:50,066 --> 00:34:53,966 {\an1}He was the premier organic chemist of his time. 635 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,966 VANCE: Moving step-by-step toward a final synthesis, 636 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:01,566 {\an1}Robinson had already published nine papers on physostigmine 637 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:04,233 {\an1}in Britain's leading chemical journal. 638 00:35:04,266 --> 00:35:07,066 HEINDEL: It's a little bit of intimidation. 639 00:35:07,100 --> 00:35:08,700 {\an1}The world is supposed to know, 640 00:35:08,733 --> 00:35:11,933 {\an1}"I've got this domain. You stay out of it." 641 00:35:11,966 --> 00:35:18,100 VANCE: But to Julian, Robinson's approach seemed clumsy. 642 00:35:18,133 --> 00:35:20,466 {\an1}Convinced there was a simpler way, 643 00:35:20,500 --> 00:35:24,033 {\an1}he set out to beat the Englishman to the synthesis. 644 00:35:24,066 --> 00:35:28,366 {\an1}A high-profile scientificvictory would be just the thing 645 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:33,833 {\an1}to get his career back on track... 646 00:35:33,866 --> 00:35:35,366 {\an1}but it wouldn't be easy. 647 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:38,033 {\an1}Physostigmine was unlike any molecule 648 00:35:38,066 --> 00:35:40,933 {\an1}that had been synthesized before. 649 00:35:40,966 --> 00:35:44,233 HEINDEL: It bristled with spots around the molecule 650 00:35:44,266 --> 00:35:47,033 {\an1}where methyl groups were hanging; 651 00:35:47,066 --> 00:35:48,933 that's a carbon with three hydrogens. 652 00:35:48,966 --> 00:35:50,833 {\an1}There are actually four of these, 653 00:35:50,866 --> 00:35:53,733 {\an1}and getting them in the right place is essential 654 00:35:53,766 --> 00:35:56,833 {\an1}to making nature's molecule. 655 00:35:56,866 --> 00:36:00,166 {\an1}It was a formidable chemical challenge for anybody 656 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:03,666 {\an1}to tackle in the early 1930s. 657 00:36:03,700 --> 00:36:05,766 ♪ 658 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:12,433 VANCE: Julian tackled it the way allchemists do: one step at a time. 659 00:36:12,466 --> 00:36:13,900 {\an1}When you synthesize a molecule, 660 00:36:13,933 --> 00:36:15,866 you start with very small substances, 661 00:36:15,900 --> 00:36:19,266 {\an1}substances you can buy or that you know how to make already. 662 00:36:19,300 --> 00:36:23,166 {\an1}You then start assembling those into fragments of the thing 663 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:25,433 {\an1}that you're hoping to make in the end; 664 00:36:25,466 --> 00:36:27,266 {\an1}they're called "intermediates." 665 00:36:27,300 --> 00:36:30,133 {\an1}And what you're doing is you're following a particular path. 666 00:36:30,166 --> 00:36:33,400 {\an1}This path takes you from the simple starting substances 667 00:36:33,433 --> 00:36:36,566 {\an1}all the way to the final product, the natural product. 668 00:36:39,166 --> 00:36:41,466 VANCE: To build his molecule, 669 00:36:41,500 --> 00:36:43,500 {\an1}Julian drew on a battery of techniques 670 00:36:43,533 --> 00:36:45,833 {\an1}for manipulating atoms. 671 00:36:45,866 --> 00:36:49,033 HEINDEL: One can heat something to a very high temperature; 672 00:36:49,066 --> 00:36:50,533 {\an1}that usually gets the atoms vibrating 673 00:36:50,566 --> 00:36:54,400 {\an1}and makes new bonds possible. 674 00:36:54,433 --> 00:36:56,800 {\an1}You can oxidize something, you can add oxygen to it. 675 00:36:56,833 --> 00:36:58,733 {\an1}You can take oxygen out of a molecule; 676 00:36:58,766 --> 00:36:59,800 {\an1}that's a reduction. 677 00:36:59,833 --> 00:37:02,966 {\an1}We can expose it to pressure. 678 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,466 {\an1}Sometimes we can expose it to light 679 00:37:05,500 --> 00:37:08,800 {\an1}to cajole the atoms to do what we want. 680 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:13,366 VANCE: At each step, Julian had to verify 681 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:17,666 {\an1}that he'd actually made the compounds he intended to. 682 00:37:17,700 --> 00:37:24,366 {\an1}For this, he relied on a device called a combustion train. 683 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:27,933 HEINDEL:This technique takes an organicmolecule which contains carbon, 684 00:37:27,966 --> 00:37:32,166 hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and burns it. 685 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:34,366 VANCE:By weighing the resulting gases, 686 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:40,166 {\an1}Julian could tell what atomswere present and in what ratio. 687 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:42,300 PETSKO: How much carbon does it have? 688 00:37:42,333 --> 00:37:43,600 How much hydrogen does it have? 689 00:37:43,633 --> 00:37:45,700 How much nitrogen does it have? 690 00:37:45,733 --> 00:37:49,100 If your compound has the right ratio, 691 00:37:49,133 --> 00:37:51,600 {\an1}you're a long way towards being sure 692 00:37:51,633 --> 00:37:53,266 you've made what you thought you made. 693 00:37:53,300 --> 00:37:58,833 HEINDEL:And then you repeat this processof purification and of analysis 694 00:37:58,866 --> 00:38:00,166 {\an1}for each intermediate 695 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:05,000 {\an1}until you finally get to the natural product. 696 00:38:05,033 --> 00:38:06,900 VANCE: Julian was under tremendous pressure 697 00:38:06,933 --> 00:38:08,200 {\an1}to complete the research, 698 00:38:08,233 --> 00:38:12,433 {\an1}pressure compounded by events in his personal life. 699 00:38:12,466 --> 00:38:14,866 He was engaged. 700 00:38:14,900 --> 00:38:18,466 {\an1}His fiancée was the woman who'd been at the center 701 00:38:18,500 --> 00:38:19,800 {\an1}of the Howard scandal, 702 00:38:19,833 --> 00:38:22,566 {\an1}the former wife of his laboratory assistant, 703 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:24,800 Robert Thompson. 704 00:38:24,833 --> 00:38:27,400 {\an1}Born Anna Roselle Johnson, 705 00:38:27,433 --> 00:38:31,266 {\an1}she was a member of a prominent African-American family 706 00:38:31,300 --> 00:38:32,800 from Baltimore. 707 00:38:32,833 --> 00:38:34,933 She had graduated Phi Beta Kappa 708 00:38:34,966 --> 00:38:40,033 {\an1}and was now working toward a Ph.D. in sociology. 709 00:38:40,066 --> 00:38:44,033 DAWSON: They'd already set, I believe, two wedding dates, 710 00:38:44,066 --> 00:38:47,633 {\an1}which he had canceled, 711 00:38:47,666 --> 00:38:50,266 {\an1}and she told him that this was the last time. 712 00:38:50,300 --> 00:38:53,933 Unless he kept the new latest date, 713 00:38:53,966 --> 00:38:57,233 {\an1}uh, she would break off their engagement. 714 00:38:57,266 --> 00:39:00,533 {\an1}And he was quite upset by this, 715 00:39:00,566 --> 00:39:03,266 {\an1}but he had no choice but to proceed, 716 00:39:03,300 --> 00:39:06,866 {\an1}because we were only a few weeks away from the end. 717 00:39:08,966 --> 00:39:12,966 VANCE: In 1934, Julian and Pikl sent off their first paper 718 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:17,866 {\an1}on physostigmine, outlining a new approach to the synthesis. 719 00:39:17,900 --> 00:39:21,733 {\an1}Julian attacked Robinson in the beginning lines of the paper. 720 00:39:21,766 --> 00:39:23,433 HEINDEL: To have a young upstart 721 00:39:23,466 --> 00:39:26,500 {\an1}taking on the pope of organic chemistry 722 00:39:26,533 --> 00:39:30,466 {\an1}in England, naming him, and coupling the words "failure" 723 00:39:30,500 --> 00:39:33,166 {\an1}and "embarrassing" and "low yield" 724 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:35,800 {\an1}is almost unbelievably aggressive. 725 00:39:35,833 --> 00:39:37,033 {\an8}In many regards, 726 00:39:37,066 --> 00:39:39,166 {\an7}that was a pivotal point in Julian's career. 727 00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:41,033 {\an1}If he were wrong, 728 00:39:41,066 --> 00:39:42,766 {\an1}he could effectively, almost write off 729 00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:46,266 {\an1}any research career at that point. 730 00:39:46,300 --> 00:39:51,100 VANCE:Working around the clock, Julianand Pikl synthesized a compound 731 00:39:51,133 --> 00:39:54,733 that was one step removed from physostigmine. 732 00:39:54,766 --> 00:39:58,166 {\an1}Since that last step was already known, 733 00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:03,233 this would count as a complete synthesis. 734 00:40:03,266 --> 00:40:04,800 {\an1}But before they could publish, 735 00:40:04,833 --> 00:40:08,433 {\an1}Robinson struck again with his own synthesis 736 00:40:08,466 --> 00:40:10,133 {\an1}of the same compound. 737 00:40:10,166 --> 00:40:11,833 He's destroyed me in one fell swoop... 738 00:40:11,866 --> 00:40:13,333 VANCE: The race was over. 739 00:40:13,366 --> 00:40:15,433 JULIAN: He's done it! 740 00:40:15,466 --> 00:40:18,500 The shock was almost unbearable. 741 00:40:18,533 --> 00:40:22,366 {\an1}We were not the first, just the "me, toos." 742 00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:24,866 {\an1}Why did he of so much fame, 743 00:40:24,900 --> 00:40:27,100 {\an1}who didn't at all need the glory, 744 00:40:27,133 --> 00:40:28,633 {\an1}have to snatch the prize from us? 745 00:40:28,666 --> 00:40:31,933 {\an1}Suddenly, my eye caught something. 746 00:40:31,966 --> 00:40:37,033 "Look, Josef, he's made a big blunder." 747 00:40:37,066 --> 00:40:41,800 Our crystals melted at about 39° Celsius; body temperature. 748 00:40:41,833 --> 00:40:44,200 {\an1}Indeed, we were able to melt them by closing them 749 00:40:44,233 --> 00:40:45,733 in our armpits. 750 00:40:45,766 --> 00:40:49,200 {\an1}His compound melted not at body temperature, 751 00:40:49,233 --> 00:40:51,666 {\an1}but almost 50 degrees higher. 752 00:40:51,700 --> 00:40:54,166 {\an1}"He hasn't got it!" I cried out. 753 00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:58,433 HEINDEL:The melting point of a molecule is a fingerprint. 754 00:40:58,466 --> 00:41:01,400 {\an1}If Julian's melting point is correct, 755 00:41:01,433 --> 00:41:03,433 {\an7}then Robinson's can't be, 756 00:41:03,466 --> 00:41:05,400 {\an7}and these can't be the same substance. 757 00:41:05,433 --> 00:41:08,533 {\an7}And Julian quickly grasps on that and says, 758 00:41:08,566 --> 00:41:10,766 {\an7}"You've got the wrong compound." 759 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:15,100 VANCE: Julian hurriedly wrote an addendum to their next paper. 760 00:41:15,133 --> 00:41:19,700 {\an1}"We believe that the English authors are in error." 761 00:41:19,733 --> 00:41:20,933 This will make us...No! 762 00:41:20,966 --> 00:41:23,033 JULIAN: Josef was a very unhappy man. 763 00:41:23,066 --> 00:41:28,166 {\an1}"If we are wrong, we areirretrievably ruined," he said. 764 00:41:30,866 --> 00:41:33,300 {\an1}It hit like a bombshell. 765 00:41:33,333 --> 00:41:36,000 {\an1}Telegrams came in from all over the world. 766 00:41:36,033 --> 00:41:39,066 My old professor Kohler at Harvard, he wrote: 767 00:41:39,100 --> 00:41:41,233 {\an1}"I pray that you are right. 768 00:41:41,266 --> 00:41:43,733 {\an1}If not, the future may be very dark for you." 769 00:41:43,766 --> 00:41:47,733 HEINDEL:Part of what he's just done here is a go-for-broke plan. 770 00:41:47,766 --> 00:41:52,400 He's working as an underpaid assistant 771 00:41:52,433 --> 00:41:53,466 {\an1}in a liberal arts college. 772 00:41:53,500 --> 00:41:55,300 {\an1}He desperately needs a break. 773 00:41:55,333 --> 00:41:58,233 VANCE: Now the pressure was on Julian and Pikl 774 00:41:58,266 --> 00:42:00,900 {\an1}to prove they were right. 775 00:42:00,933 --> 00:42:05,400 DAWSON: Percy was a bundle of nerves, 776 00:42:05,433 --> 00:42:11,000 but yet, he had this underlying drive that didn't permit him 777 00:42:11,033 --> 00:42:16,200 {\an7}to stop, to run away, to give up. 778 00:42:16,233 --> 00:42:19,133 VANCE: To confirm his synthesis, 779 00:42:19,166 --> 00:42:23,400 {\an1}Julian needed to take one final melting point. 780 00:42:23,433 --> 00:42:25,000 RINGE: When chemists took a melting point, 781 00:42:25,033 --> 00:42:27,566 {\an1}they would put some crystals into a capillary tube, 782 00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:30,300 {\an1}strap that capillary tube to a thermometer, 783 00:42:30,333 --> 00:42:33,666 {\an1}and then place the complete assembly into an oil bath. 784 00:42:33,700 --> 00:42:38,766 {\an1}They're looking to determine the exact moment 785 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:40,900 {\an1}when the crystals begin to melt. 786 00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:47,433 VANCE:To claim victory over Robinson, 787 00:42:47,466 --> 00:42:49,933 Julian had to show that another set of crystals 788 00:42:49,966 --> 00:42:52,566 {\an1}from his synthesis melted at the same temperature 789 00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:56,800 {\an1}as their natural counterpart, 135 degrees. 790 00:42:56,833 --> 00:43:00,733 {\an5}Melting. JULIAN: 135... 791 00:43:00,766 --> 00:43:02,366 136... 792 00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:03,933 Finished! 793 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:07,566 HEINDEL: This has got to be the ultimate high. 794 00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:10,933 {\an1}"I've taken on the master, and I've beaten him." 795 00:43:13,033 --> 00:43:16,100 VANCE: The physostigmine papers were immediately recognized 796 00:43:16,133 --> 00:43:19,933 as a milestone in American chemical history, 797 00:43:19,966 --> 00:43:24,766 {\an1}an early example of whatchemists call total synthesis-- 798 00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:27,233 {\an1}the complete assembly of a complex molecule 799 00:43:27,266 --> 00:43:30,066 {\an1}from basic chemical building blocks. 800 00:43:32,766 --> 00:43:36,033 HEINDEL: Julian's pathway to physostigmine 801 00:43:36,066 --> 00:43:39,133 is so simple that it can be summarized 802 00:43:39,166 --> 00:43:41,033 in essentially two publications. 803 00:43:41,066 --> 00:43:44,766 {\an1}Chemists look at them and marvel at 804 00:43:44,800 --> 00:43:49,100 {\an1}"How did he do that in so elegant of a sequence?" 805 00:43:49,133 --> 00:43:53,933 JAMES SHOFFNER: To call a process "elegant" means 806 00:43:53,966 --> 00:43:56,166 {\an7}that the synthesis is achieved 807 00:43:56,200 --> 00:43:58,066 {\an7}in the minimal amount of steps necessary 808 00:43:58,100 --> 00:44:02,100 {\an7}in order to bring about a product. 809 00:44:02,133 --> 00:44:05,366 {\an7}And so that's really to give it the highest accolade 810 00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:08,133 {\an1}that you can give, that it is elegant. 811 00:44:08,166 --> 00:44:10,866 ♪ 812 00:44:10,900 --> 00:44:15,800 VANCE: In 1935, Percy finally married Anna in a private ceremony 813 00:44:15,833 --> 00:44:19,100 {\an1}on Christmas Eve. 814 00:44:19,133 --> 00:44:22,666 {\an1}As his bride went back East to finish her doctorate, 815 00:44:22,700 --> 00:44:25,500 {\an1}Julian looked forward to new career opportunities 816 00:44:25,533 --> 00:44:29,433 {\an1}his triumph would bring. 817 00:44:29,466 --> 00:44:32,100 {\an1}On the strength of his physostigmine work, 818 00:44:32,133 --> 00:44:35,300 {\an1}William Blanchard had recommended his protégé 819 00:44:35,333 --> 00:44:37,966 {\an1}for a permanent faculty position at DePauw. 820 00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:41,433 {\an1}DONALD "JACK" COOK:If DePauw had recognized Percy's capabilities 821 00:44:41,466 --> 00:44:43,333 {\an7}and put him on the staff at that time, 822 00:44:43,366 --> 00:44:46,133 {\an7}it would have been a historical event. 823 00:44:46,166 --> 00:44:47,600 {\an7}It didn't happen. 824 00:44:47,633 --> 00:44:51,033 VANCE: Julian applied to other universities 825 00:44:51,066 --> 00:44:53,666 {\an1}with the same result. 826 00:44:53,700 --> 00:44:57,000 {\an7}Most institutions would not even tolerate, for a second, 827 00:44:57,033 --> 00:44:59,066 {\an7}having an African-American in the role of a teacher 828 00:44:59,100 --> 00:45:00,600 {\an8}or faculty. 829 00:45:00,633 --> 00:45:06,200 PEARSON: This was during a time of rampant scientific racism. 830 00:45:06,233 --> 00:45:08,966 There were a number of scholars at Harvard 831 00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:13,966 and other institutions that were doing scientific studies 832 00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:16,166 {\an7}and reporting that African- Americans did not have 833 00:45:16,200 --> 00:45:17,966 {\an7}the capacity to do science 834 00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,500 {\an7}because they were actually an inferior race. 835 00:45:21,933 --> 00:45:27,566 VANCE: In early 1936,Julian's research grant ran out. 836 00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:31,166 Now with no hope of an academic career, 837 00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:34,500 {\an1}he turned his attention to industry. 838 00:45:34,533 --> 00:45:38,133 {\an1}America's leading chemical corporation, DuPont, 839 00:45:38,166 --> 00:45:41,700 {\an1}had invited Julian and Pikl for an interview. 840 00:45:41,733 --> 00:45:45,066 {\an1}DuPont executives offered Pikl a job. 841 00:45:45,100 --> 00:45:49,166 {\an1}To Julian, he later recalled, they offered an apology: 842 00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:52,833 "We didn't know you were a Negro." 843 00:45:54,266 --> 00:45:58,466 {\an7}The world of chemical research and development in industry 844 00:45:58,500 --> 00:45:59,800 {\an8}in this period 845 00:45:59,833 --> 00:46:02,766 {\an1}was overwhelmingly white Anglo-Saxon Protestant men, 846 00:46:02,800 --> 00:46:08,500 {\an1}and outsiders were not really all that welcome. 847 00:46:08,533 --> 00:46:11,000 VANCE: At Julian's insistence, 848 00:46:11,033 --> 00:46:13,100 {\an1}Pikl took the job at DuPont 849 00:46:13,133 --> 00:46:15,566 {\an1}and spent the rest of his career there. 850 00:46:15,600 --> 00:46:19,466 Julian returned to the job hunt. 851 00:46:19,500 --> 00:46:23,200 JULIAN: Day by day, as I entered these firms, 852 00:46:23,233 --> 00:46:25,833 {\an1}presented my credentials and asked for a job, 853 00:46:25,866 --> 00:46:30,066 {\an1}the answer almost seemed like it had been transmitted by wire 854 00:46:30,100 --> 00:46:31,833 {\an1}from one firm to the other. 855 00:46:31,866 --> 00:46:33,633 {\an1}It ran like this: 856 00:46:33,666 --> 00:46:36,900 {\an1}"We've never hired a Negro research chemist before. 857 00:46:36,933 --> 00:46:39,266 We don't know how it would work out." 858 00:46:39,300 --> 00:46:40,600 (chuckles) 859 00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:45,466 VANCE:Finally, Julian caught a break. 860 00:46:45,500 --> 00:46:47,366 {\an1}The Institute of Paper Chemistry, 861 00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:50,933 {\an1}in Appleton, Wisconsin, was prepared to make him an offer. 862 00:46:50,966 --> 00:46:53,966 JULIAN: And then they were informed by city attorneys 863 00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:57,200 {\an1}that an old Appleton statute forbade Negroes 864 00:46:57,233 --> 00:47:00,566 {\an1}from being housed in Appleton overnight. 865 00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:05,700 {\an1}This, in the year of our Lord, 1936. 866 00:47:05,733 --> 00:47:09,600 {\an1}But in that meeting sat a board member, 867 00:47:09,633 --> 00:47:11,900 {\an1}an Irishman named William J. O'Brien. 868 00:47:11,933 --> 00:47:16,166 VANCE: O'Brien was vice president of the Glidden Company. 869 00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:18,533 {\an1}He'd been looking for a sharp chemist 870 00:47:18,566 --> 00:47:21,166 {\an1}to run the company's new Chicago laboratory. 871 00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:25,133 {\an1}He offered Julian the job of Director of Research. 872 00:47:25,166 --> 00:47:27,400 JULIAN: I had already wired Anna several times 873 00:47:27,433 --> 00:47:29,366 {\an7}that I had landed jobs, 874 00:47:29,400 --> 00:47:31,933 {\an7}so this time I was a little more cautious: 875 00:47:31,966 --> 00:47:35,400 {\an7}"Am considering offer Glidden Company 876 00:47:35,433 --> 00:47:38,666 {\an1}in research at $5,000." 877 00:47:38,700 --> 00:47:41,900 {\an1}Her reply came back: "What do you mean 'considering'?" 878 00:47:41,933 --> 00:47:43,533 (laughter) 879 00:47:43,566 --> 00:47:45,733 SMITH: The fact that Percy Julian was hired 880 00:47:45,766 --> 00:47:47,800 {\an1}to be the director of a laboratory, 881 00:47:47,833 --> 00:47:50,233 {\an1}not just a member of a laboratory, 882 00:47:50,266 --> 00:47:53,100 {\an1}is truly remarkable and unprecedented. 883 00:47:53,133 --> 00:47:57,366 {\an1}That was ten years before Jackie Robinson, you know? 884 00:47:57,400 --> 00:48:01,066 {\an1}And we look toward the Jackie Robinson example 885 00:48:01,100 --> 00:48:04,600 {\an1}as being pivotal in opening up not just baseball, 886 00:48:04,633 --> 00:48:08,333 {\an1}but whole lots of otheropportunities for Black people. 887 00:48:08,366 --> 00:48:11,766 {\an1}And so I came to Chicagoand started in on another 888 00:48:11,800 --> 00:48:14,966 {\an1}fascinating plant, the soybean. 889 00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:18,933 {\an1}♪ 890 00:48:20,966 --> 00:48:24,333 VANCE: Neither Julian, nor anyone else in 1936, 891 00:48:24,366 --> 00:48:28,866 {\an1}had any idea what a powerhouse the soybean would become. 892 00:48:31,500 --> 00:48:32,633 {\an1}Today the soybean is one 893 00:48:32,666 --> 00:48:36,100 {\an1}of the pillars of American agriculture, 894 00:48:36,133 --> 00:48:39,733 {\an1}second only to corn among the major crops. 895 00:48:39,766 --> 00:48:43,500 {\an1}70 million acres of farmland are planted in soy, 896 00:48:43,533 --> 00:48:47,433 {\an1}with an annual harvest worth more than $20 billion. 897 00:48:47,466 --> 00:48:51,833 Soy is used in a wide range of products, 898 00:48:51,866 --> 00:48:55,300 {\an1}from food and medicine to paper and plastics. 899 00:48:55,333 --> 00:48:58,400 TODD ALLEN: It's a very widely used commodity. 900 00:48:58,433 --> 00:49:01,566 {\an7}If you go down to the grocery store and look at the label, 901 00:49:01,600 --> 00:49:03,433 {\an7}you'll find soybean oil in there somewhere. 902 00:49:07,500 --> 00:49:09,600 {\an1}Soybeans originally came into this country from China, 903 00:49:09,633 --> 00:49:10,766 as a hay crop 904 00:49:10,800 --> 00:49:14,033 {\an1}for grazing, for beef cattle. 905 00:49:14,066 --> 00:49:17,666 {\an1}But, also, it manufactures its own nitrogen, 906 00:49:17,700 --> 00:49:22,266 {\an1}and back in the 1920s, well, then everybody needed that, 907 00:49:22,300 --> 00:49:25,933 {\an1}because we didn't have a lot ofcommercial fertilizer back then. 908 00:49:27,700 --> 00:49:29,700 {\an1}But then, as our machinery developed, 909 00:49:29,733 --> 00:49:33,733 {\an1}we learned that we could cut and process these soy beans 910 00:49:33,766 --> 00:49:36,866 {\an1}and break them down into feed for our animals 911 00:49:36,900 --> 00:49:39,566 {\an1}and soy oil for human consumption. 912 00:49:39,600 --> 00:49:45,800 VANCE: But soybeans really took off in the 1930s, 913 00:49:45,833 --> 00:49:48,266 {\an1}when industry discovered the plant, thanks, in part, 914 00:49:48,300 --> 00:49:51,100 {\an1}to the efforts of an unlikely champion: 915 00:49:51,133 --> 00:49:53,800 {\an1}automaker Henry Ford. 916 00:49:53,833 --> 00:49:58,133 {\an1}Ford planted thousands of acres of soybeans, 917 00:49:58,166 --> 00:50:01,133 and alongside his Dearborn auto plant, 918 00:50:01,166 --> 00:50:05,933 {\an1}he built a soybean laboratory and processing factory. 919 00:50:05,966 --> 00:50:08,266 SMITH: Ford sets up a laboratory 920 00:50:08,300 --> 00:50:09,433 {\an1}in the early 1930s, 921 00:50:09,466 --> 00:50:10,566 hires a young, 922 00:50:10,600 --> 00:50:12,766 {\an1}self-trained chemist to run the laboratory, 923 00:50:12,800 --> 00:50:15,900 {\an1}and they begin doing lots of experiments 924 00:50:15,933 --> 00:50:17,633 {\an1}trying to figure out how you could use 925 00:50:17,666 --> 00:50:21,366 {\an1}soybeans in making cars. 926 00:50:23,666 --> 00:50:25,566 VANCE: Out of his lab came new 927 00:50:25,600 --> 00:50:28,400 {\an1}soybean-based auto paints, lubricating oils 928 00:50:28,433 --> 00:50:31,533 {\an1}and soybean-based plastics 929 00:50:31,566 --> 00:50:33,533 {\an1}that Ford turned into steering wheels, 930 00:50:33,566 --> 00:50:35,033 gearshift knobs 931 00:50:35,066 --> 00:50:36,533 {\an1}and dent-proof fenders. 932 00:50:36,566 --> 00:50:39,233 ANNOUNCER:Industrial chemists are working 933 00:50:39,266 --> 00:50:43,866 {\an1}to find new uses for soybean oil and soybean meal. 934 00:50:43,900 --> 00:50:46,733 VANCE:Soon, other industrialists were following Ford's lead, 935 00:50:46,766 --> 00:50:51,900 {\an1}building soybean processing plants across the Midwest. 936 00:50:51,933 --> 00:50:55,866 {\an1}One of the first to embrace the "miracle bean" 937 00:50:55,900 --> 00:50:57,800 {\an1}was Percy Julian's new boss, 938 00:50:57,833 --> 00:51:00,933 Adrian Joyce of the Glidden Company. 939 00:51:00,966 --> 00:51:04,833 {\an1}Under Joyce, Glidden had grown from a single paint store 940 00:51:04,866 --> 00:51:06,633 in Cleveland into one of the nation's 941 00:51:06,666 --> 00:51:09,133 {\an1}leading paint manufacturers. 942 00:51:09,166 --> 00:51:11,600 SMITH: But Joyce didn't stop there. 943 00:51:11,633 --> 00:51:14,766 He diversified into a wide range of products. 944 00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:19,433 {\an1}Durkee Famous Foods was a Glidden brand. 945 00:51:19,466 --> 00:51:21,966 He also moved into soybean processing. 946 00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:26,533 VANCE: Convinced the soybean would be critical to Glidden's future, 947 00:51:26,566 --> 00:51:31,833 {\an1}Joyce set up a new Soya Products Division in Chicago. 948 00:51:31,866 --> 00:51:35,933 {\an1}The first assignment for his new research director: 949 00:51:35,966 --> 00:51:38,466 {\an1}isolate the protein of the soybean, 950 00:51:38,500 --> 00:51:43,466 {\an1}something that had never been done on an industrial scale. 951 00:51:43,500 --> 00:51:46,533 {\an1}Julian plunged into his new job, 952 00:51:46,566 --> 00:51:48,533 {\an1}keenly aware that people were watching to see 953 00:51:48,566 --> 00:51:51,733 {\an1}how this Black chemist would measure up. 954 00:51:51,766 --> 00:51:53,300 PETER WALTON: The people in the plant 955 00:51:53,333 --> 00:51:57,800 {\an7}were always mindful of a white laboratory coat, 956 00:51:57,833 --> 00:52:02,633 {\an1}a blur that might swoop down at any moment. 957 00:52:02,666 --> 00:52:05,166 PRINTY: He would pester you at many times. 958 00:52:05,200 --> 00:52:08,800 He would keep, you know, wanting to know what was new, 959 00:52:08,833 --> 00:52:11,600 {\an1}every half an hour, almost. 960 00:52:11,633 --> 00:52:14,300 {\an1}And he expected you to tell him something different 961 00:52:14,333 --> 00:52:16,733 {\an7}every time he came in there, something that was favorable. 962 00:52:16,766 --> 00:52:19,300 VANCE: But for more than a year, 963 00:52:19,333 --> 00:52:22,100 {\an1}the news was not favorable. 964 00:52:22,133 --> 00:52:23,266 WATTS: In chemistry, 965 00:52:23,300 --> 00:52:25,966 things don't ever go the way you plan it, 966 00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:28,500 {\an1}because you've got reactions that are very critical; 967 00:52:28,533 --> 00:52:32,266 {\an1}even a little variation in temperature, in concentration 968 00:52:32,300 --> 00:52:34,300 {\an1}and time, and everything 969 00:52:34,333 --> 00:52:37,400 {\an1}will give you a bad outcome. 970 00:52:38,966 --> 00:52:43,400 VANCE: Eventually, Julian's chemistsfound just the right combination 971 00:52:43,433 --> 00:52:46,066 {\an1}of time, temperature, and acidity 972 00:52:46,100 --> 00:52:48,900 {\an1}to pull the protein out of the soybean. 973 00:52:51,700 --> 00:52:55,533 {\an1}Julian's "Alpha protein" was the first vegetable protein 974 00:52:55,566 --> 00:52:58,766 {\an1}produced in bulk anywhere in America. 975 00:52:58,800 --> 00:53:01,800 {\an1}It made millions for Glidden 976 00:53:01,833 --> 00:53:04,133 as a new industrial paper coating. 977 00:53:04,166 --> 00:53:05,933 ANNOUNCER: Goes on smoothly even on damp walls... 978 00:53:05,966 --> 00:53:09,166 VANCE: Later it would be a key ingredient 979 00:53:09,200 --> 00:53:13,066 in one of the first water-based, or "latex" house paints, 980 00:53:13,100 --> 00:53:14,300 {\an1}Glidden's Spred Satin. 981 00:53:14,333 --> 00:53:15,766 ANNOUNCER: Get new Spred house paint. 982 00:53:15,800 --> 00:53:20,900 VANCE: After Alpha protein, Adrian Joyce urged Julian 983 00:53:20,933 --> 00:53:23,500 {\an1}to turn his attention to other parts of the soybean. 984 00:53:23,533 --> 00:53:26,866 SMITH: Joyce was always trying to figure out 985 00:53:26,900 --> 00:53:30,266 {\an1}every possible use for everything you have. 986 00:53:30,300 --> 00:53:32,500 {\an1}Find out, "Is there some chemical in here 987 00:53:32,533 --> 00:53:35,100 {\an1}"that we otherwise might be throwing down the drain, 988 00:53:35,133 --> 00:53:37,666 {\an1}that we might be able to make money out of?" 989 00:53:37,700 --> 00:53:43,100 VANCE: Julian drove his staff to turn the soybean inside out. 990 00:53:43,133 --> 00:53:46,100 ARNOLD HIRSCH: Julian wanted everyone 991 00:53:46,133 --> 00:53:49,466 {\an1}to perform to the best of their ability, 992 00:53:49,500 --> 00:53:52,100 and he did everything in his power 993 00:53:52,133 --> 00:53:54,133 {\an1}to motivate people to do that. 994 00:53:54,166 --> 00:53:55,966 {\an1}You call yourself a chemist? Yes, Doctor. 995 00:53:56,000 --> 00:53:59,233 JAMES LETTON: I always thought he was a master psychologist. 996 00:53:59,266 --> 00:54:01,800 {\an1}I think he was very much aware of what he was doing 997 00:54:01,833 --> 00:54:05,900 {\an1}and who he was doing it to. 998 00:54:05,933 --> 00:54:08,500 WATTS: His purpose was to get the best out of you. 999 00:54:08,533 --> 00:54:12,166 {\an1}I think that-that's what it was all about. 1000 00:54:13,933 --> 00:54:16,700 VANCE: The chemistry invented by Julian and his team 1001 00:54:16,733 --> 00:54:18,966 {\an1}led to scores of new products. 1002 00:54:19,000 --> 00:54:21,100 {\an1}From soybean oil came lecithin, 1003 00:54:21,133 --> 00:54:23,066 {\an1}to make chocolate smoother, 1004 00:54:23,100 --> 00:54:26,433 {\an1}new salad oils and shortenings for Durkee, 1005 00:54:26,466 --> 00:54:29,900 {\an1}and a new non-spattering margarine. 1006 00:54:29,933 --> 00:54:32,366 {\an1}Always when you wereworking on one thing, 1007 00:54:32,400 --> 00:54:35,066 {\an1}there was anotherthing coming up. 1008 00:54:35,100 --> 00:54:37,266 {\an1}You were always thinkingahead of time, 1009 00:54:37,300 --> 00:54:38,900 {\an1}what was the next big thing? 1010 00:54:38,933 --> 00:54:42,300 VANCE:From soybean meal came plastics, 1011 00:54:42,333 --> 00:54:44,433 linoleum, plywood glue, 1012 00:54:44,466 --> 00:54:49,066 {\an1}high-protein livestock feed, and dog food. 1013 00:54:49,100 --> 00:54:51,566 PRINTY: Oh, he was brilliant. 1014 00:54:51,600 --> 00:54:54,966 He would set out a research project, 1015 00:54:55,000 --> 00:54:56,633 {\an1}and he would write the introduction 1016 00:54:56,666 --> 00:55:00,266 {\an1}and the description of the work, and a conclusion. 1017 00:55:00,300 --> 00:55:03,333 {\an1}He did everything exceptdo the experiment. 1018 00:55:03,366 --> 00:55:07,000 {\an7}And there would be a statement something to the effect 1019 00:55:07,033 --> 00:55:09,233 {\an7}that, "The problem is solved; 1020 00:55:09,266 --> 00:55:11,033 {\an1}all that remains to be done is..." 1021 00:55:11,066 --> 00:55:13,500 And many of us used to cringe at this, 1022 00:55:13,533 --> 00:55:16,066 {\an1}because it would be our responsibility 1023 00:55:16,100 --> 00:55:19,866 {\an1}to get this to work, and sometimes it didn't work. 1024 00:55:19,900 --> 00:55:22,200 {\an1}He was very demanding. 1025 00:55:22,233 --> 00:55:24,833 {\an1}And that was on a daily basis, 1026 00:55:24,866 --> 00:55:28,300 {\an1}I mean, because he had his hands on everything that went on. 1027 00:55:28,333 --> 00:55:30,900 ANNOUNCER: Yes, there's magic in this Cinderella crop, 1028 00:55:30,933 --> 00:55:33,233 {\an1}and we've hardly scratched the surface. 1029 00:55:33,266 --> 00:55:36,833 VANCE: The stream of products coming out of Julian's lab 1030 00:55:36,866 --> 00:55:38,333 {\an1}joined the flood of household 1031 00:55:38,366 --> 00:55:40,266 {\an1}and industrial goods from Dow, 1032 00:55:40,300 --> 00:55:42,133 {\an1}DuPont and other companies 1033 00:55:42,166 --> 00:55:45,533 {\an1}whose chemistry was changing the way Americans lived. 1034 00:55:49,566 --> 00:55:52,133 ANNOUNCER: ...nylon stockings, introduced in 1938. 1035 00:55:52,166 --> 00:55:55,066 {\an1}There's barely a minute of your time on Earth 1036 00:55:55,100 --> 00:55:56,666 {\an1}that is not in some way made 1037 00:55:56,700 --> 00:55:58,833 {\an1}secure and comfortable through chemistry. 1038 00:55:58,866 --> 00:56:00,666 SMITH: There was a tremendous amount 1039 00:56:00,700 --> 00:56:03,000 {\an1}of enthusiasm for chemicals 1040 00:56:03,033 --> 00:56:04,600 in the 1930s. 1041 00:56:04,633 --> 00:56:06,966 ANNOUNCER: Here are the headquarters of a group of super-sleuths, 1042 00:56:07,000 --> 00:56:10,133 {\an1}engaged in solving some of themajor mysteries of the universe. 1043 00:56:10,166 --> 00:56:13,333 {\an1}They take molecules apart and put them together again, 1044 00:56:13,366 --> 00:56:16,466 {\an1}in a different form, to make new and incredible things. 1045 00:56:16,500 --> 00:56:18,366 SMITH: People saw the industry 1046 00:56:18,400 --> 00:56:23,000 {\an7}as sort of the leading edge of high technology, 1047 00:56:23,033 --> 00:56:25,100 {\an7}of providing goods and services that were going to make 1048 00:56:25,133 --> 00:56:26,200 {\an7}people's lives better 1049 00:56:26,233 --> 00:56:28,500 {\an7}and to keep the economy growing. 1050 00:56:28,533 --> 00:56:30,733 ♪ 1051 00:56:30,766 --> 00:56:34,866 ANNOUNCER:The nation's industrial skyline parted in the middle, 1052 00:56:34,900 --> 00:56:37,533 {\an1}to make room for the growing chemical industry. 1053 00:56:37,566 --> 00:56:41,300 VANCE: Glidden's new soybean division was a success. 1054 00:56:41,333 --> 00:56:43,766 {\an1}Julian's reward was a raise 1055 00:56:43,800 --> 00:56:46,700 {\an1}that allowed him to be reunited with Anna. 1056 00:56:46,733 --> 00:56:50,000 {\an1}For the first three years of their marriage, 1057 00:56:50,033 --> 00:56:52,966 {\an1}she had been back East, earning her Ph.D. 1058 00:56:53,000 --> 00:56:56,033 {\an1}and working in the Washington public schools. 1059 00:56:56,066 --> 00:56:59,233 {\an1}Now she joined Percy in Chicago, at last. 1060 00:56:59,266 --> 00:57:03,033 {\an1}As the couple settled into their new home, 1061 00:57:03,066 --> 00:57:05,100 {\an1}in the Westside community of Maywood, 1062 00:57:05,133 --> 00:57:08,866 {\an1}Anna learned just how driven her husband could be 1063 00:57:08,900 --> 00:57:11,133 {\an1}when it came to chemistry. 1064 00:57:11,166 --> 00:57:16,400 {\an1}"Science can be a hardtaskmaster," she would remember. 1065 00:57:16,433 --> 00:57:19,466 {\an1}"Dinner can be at 7:00 or 11:00, 1066 00:57:19,500 --> 00:57:24,866 {\an1}as far as the true disciple of chemistry is concerned." 1067 00:57:24,900 --> 00:57:28,700 {\an1}Glidden was delighted with Julian's chemistry, 1068 00:57:28,733 --> 00:57:31,933 {\an1}but Julian was becoming restless. 1069 00:57:31,966 --> 00:57:35,733 JULIAN: I was itching to get away from dog foods, 1070 00:57:35,766 --> 00:57:38,100 {\an1}paint and oleomargarine, 1071 00:57:38,133 --> 00:57:41,800 {\an1}and to tackle nature again with more exacting methods. 1072 00:57:41,833 --> 00:57:45,333 PRINTY: Dr. Julian loved chemistry. 1073 00:57:45,366 --> 00:57:49,500 He used to take the people that were working on the products 1074 00:57:49,533 --> 00:57:52,533 {\an1}for the Glidden Company and sneak us off 1075 00:57:52,566 --> 00:57:57,700 {\an1}and do other things that he was interested in, on the side. 1076 00:57:57,733 --> 00:57:59,233 VANCE:Julian was especially interested 1077 00:57:59,266 --> 00:58:03,066 {\an1}in a compound called progesterone. 1078 00:58:03,100 --> 00:58:04,633 ANNOUNCER: New ways of controlling fertility 1079 00:58:04,666 --> 00:58:06,066 {\an1}have begun to suggest... 1080 00:58:06,100 --> 00:58:09,400 VANCE: Discovered in 1934, progesterone was called 1081 00:58:09,433 --> 00:58:12,500 {\an1}the "pregnancy hormone,"because it plays a central role 1082 00:58:12,533 --> 00:58:16,166 {\an1}in preparing a woman's uterus for childbirth. 1083 00:58:16,200 --> 00:58:22,400 PRINTY:Apparently, Mrs. Julian had had a couple of miscarriages. 1084 00:58:22,433 --> 00:58:23,633 {\an1}And doctors at that time 1085 00:58:23,666 --> 00:58:26,166 {\an7}had found that progesterone was essential 1086 00:58:26,200 --> 00:58:28,900 {\an7}to carrying a child to term. 1087 00:58:28,933 --> 00:58:30,366 {\an1}The pains are getting harder. 1088 00:58:30,400 --> 00:58:33,066 VANCE: In the 1930s, nearly one out of every six 1089 00:58:33,100 --> 00:58:34,833 {\an1}pregnancies in America ended 1090 00:58:34,866 --> 00:58:37,266 in miscarriage or premature birth. 1091 00:58:37,300 --> 00:58:40,133 Relax. Your baby is almost here now. 1092 00:58:40,166 --> 00:58:43,700 VANCE:Hundreds of thousands of babies were lost each year. 1093 00:58:43,733 --> 00:58:46,300 (baby crying) 1094 00:58:46,333 --> 00:58:50,133 {\an1}Julian realized that progesterone offered new hope. 1095 00:58:50,166 --> 00:58:53,800 {\an1}He and other chemists began looking for ways to make 1096 00:58:53,833 --> 00:58:57,366 the hormone for pregnant women at risk. 1097 00:58:59,366 --> 00:59:04,033 {\an1}Progesterone is one of a class of compounds called steroids, 1098 00:59:04,066 --> 00:59:06,733 {\an1}which scientists were just beginning to realize 1099 00:59:06,766 --> 00:59:09,666 {\an1}played many key roles in the body. 1100 00:59:09,700 --> 00:59:11,266 PETSKO: They were involved 1101 00:59:11,300 --> 00:59:12,533 {\an8}in reproduction. 1102 00:59:12,566 --> 00:59:14,366 {\an7}They were involved in sexual development. 1103 00:59:14,400 --> 00:59:18,066 {\an7}They were involved in the response to injury and growth. 1104 00:59:18,100 --> 00:59:19,700 And yet, despite this enormous range 1105 00:59:19,733 --> 00:59:21,833 of different physiological effects, 1106 00:59:21,866 --> 00:59:23,333 {\an1}these compounds all seemed 1107 00:59:23,366 --> 00:59:25,266 to have similar chemical structures. 1108 00:59:25,300 --> 00:59:28,033 {\an1}The group of molecules that we call steroids 1109 00:59:28,066 --> 00:59:30,933 {\an7}all share a common framework, 1110 00:59:30,966 --> 00:59:34,500 {\an7}composed of these four ring systems right here: 1111 00:59:34,533 --> 00:59:37,033 {\an1}a six-membered ring fused to a second six-membered ring 1112 00:59:37,066 --> 00:59:40,900 fused to a third six-membered ring 1113 00:59:40,933 --> 00:59:43,200 {\an1}fused to a five-membered ring. 1114 00:59:44,800 --> 00:59:48,433 VANCE: Dozens of steroid molecules are made by the body, 1115 00:59:48,466 --> 00:59:52,333 {\an1}ranging from cholesterol to digestive fluids 1116 00:59:52,366 --> 00:59:57,100 {\an1}to sex hormones such as progesterone and testosterone. 1117 00:59:57,133 --> 01:00:00,633 {\an1}The anabolic steroids used by some athletes today 1118 01:00:00,666 --> 01:00:05,266 {\an1}are simply modified forms of the natural male hormone. 1119 01:00:05,300 --> 01:00:07,400 HEINDEL: Once it was recognized 1120 01:00:07,433 --> 01:00:09,900 {\an1}that the family of materials we call steroids 1121 01:00:09,933 --> 01:00:12,333 {\an1}had such an impact on human health, 1122 01:00:12,366 --> 01:00:14,833 {\an1}there became a global push: 1123 01:00:14,866 --> 01:00:16,500 {\an7}"Can we get these materials? 1124 01:00:16,533 --> 01:00:18,133 {\an7}Can we make them available?" 1125 01:00:18,166 --> 01:00:19,600 {\an7}And, "What sources do they come from?" 1126 01:00:19,633 --> 01:00:23,966 VANCE: Chemists first tried isolating steroids 1127 01:00:24,000 --> 01:00:27,100 {\an1}from animal extracts like horse urine, 1128 01:00:27,133 --> 01:00:30,666 {\an1}but the process required vast amounts of raw material 1129 01:00:30,700 --> 01:00:33,266 {\an1}and yielded only tiny amounts of steroids. 1130 01:00:33,300 --> 01:00:37,100 PETSKO: The breakthrough, in making steroids available, 1131 01:00:37,133 --> 01:00:39,966 {\an1}was the realization that you could take substances 1132 01:00:40,000 --> 01:00:42,233 {\an1}from plants that could form 1133 01:00:42,266 --> 01:00:44,833 {\an1}the starting point for the synthesis of steroids. 1134 01:00:44,866 --> 01:00:47,100 {\an1}That would give you a leg up on the process. 1135 01:00:49,633 --> 01:00:52,900 VANCE: By the mid-1930s, scientists had discovered 1136 01:00:52,933 --> 01:00:55,033 that plants have steroids, too, 1137 01:00:55,066 --> 01:00:59,000 with the same four carbon rings found in animal steroids. 1138 01:00:59,033 --> 01:01:00,566 {\an8}RINGE: It was only a very 1139 01:01:00,600 --> 01:01:03,900 {\an1}small leap to realize 1140 01:01:03,933 --> 01:01:06,800 {\an1}that one could convert a plant steroid 1141 01:01:06,833 --> 01:01:08,500 {\an1}into an animal steroid. 1142 01:01:08,533 --> 01:01:10,733 ♪ 1143 01:01:10,766 --> 01:01:13,066 VANCE: The idea that plants made chemicals 1144 01:01:13,100 --> 01:01:14,800 {\an1}similar to human steroids 1145 01:01:14,833 --> 01:01:17,833 {\an1}was something Julian already knew. 1146 01:01:17,866 --> 01:01:19,333 Back at DePauw, 1147 01:01:19,366 --> 01:01:21,233 while researching physostigmine, 1148 01:01:21,266 --> 01:01:26,066 {\an1}Julian had set aside a dish of Calabar bean oil. 1149 01:01:26,100 --> 01:01:30,933 {\an1}A few days later, he found white crystals in the oil. 1150 01:01:30,966 --> 01:01:34,800 {\an1}Searching the literature, he found that these crystals 1151 01:01:34,833 --> 01:01:38,766 {\an1}were a plant steroid called stigmasterol. 1152 01:01:38,800 --> 01:01:44,866 {\an1}Small amounts of stigmasterolwere also found in soybean oil, 1153 01:01:44,900 --> 01:01:49,233 {\an1}and Julian now had plenty of that at Glidden. 1154 01:01:49,266 --> 01:01:52,500 {\an1}He was confident that he could convert it into progesterone 1155 01:01:52,533 --> 01:01:54,200 {\an1}if he could find a way 1156 01:01:54,233 --> 01:01:58,933 {\an1}to extract this stigmasterol from the oil. 1157 01:01:58,966 --> 01:02:00,933 {\an1}But Julian was not the only one 1158 01:02:00,966 --> 01:02:04,666 {\an1}who saw the potential of making steroids from plants. 1159 01:02:04,700 --> 01:02:10,200 {\an1}In 1938, a chemistnamed Russell Marker found a way 1160 01:02:10,233 --> 01:02:12,800 {\an1}to convert steroids from sarsaparilla root 1161 01:02:12,833 --> 01:02:16,600 {\an1}into progesterone by chemically snipping off the side chain 1162 01:02:16,633 --> 01:02:20,333 of extra atoms from the plant steroid. 1163 01:02:20,366 --> 01:02:22,900 {\an1}It was breakthrough chemistry, 1164 01:02:22,933 --> 01:02:25,800 {\an1}but progesterone made from sarsaparilla root 1165 01:02:25,833 --> 01:02:28,300 {\an1}was too expensive to be practical. 1166 01:02:28,333 --> 01:02:32,833 The race was on for a cheaper source. 1167 01:02:32,866 --> 01:02:34,933 PETSKO: I think that both Percy Julian 1168 01:02:34,966 --> 01:02:37,900 {\an1}and Russell Marker understood the medical implications 1169 01:02:37,933 --> 01:02:39,966 {\an1}of what they were trying to do. 1170 01:02:40,000 --> 01:02:41,633 That they knew if those natural products 1171 01:02:41,666 --> 01:02:43,666 {\an1}could be provided in quantity, 1172 01:02:43,700 --> 01:02:46,633 {\an1}that the face of medicine would be changed. 1173 01:02:46,666 --> 01:02:50,400 VANCE: Marker published paper after paper, 1174 01:02:50,433 --> 01:02:52,266 {\an1}documenting his search for a plant 1175 01:02:52,300 --> 01:02:55,466 that would yield cheap progesterone. 1176 01:02:55,500 --> 01:02:58,533 {\an1}Julian saw his chance slipping away. 1177 01:02:58,566 --> 01:03:01,666 {\an1}There wasn't much time for this kind of research 1178 01:03:01,700 --> 01:03:05,566 {\an1}amid the daily demands of his job. 1179 01:03:05,600 --> 01:03:07,866 JULIAN: One day, the phone rang. 1180 01:03:07,900 --> 01:03:10,033 The fellow said, "Doc, something's happened. 1181 01:03:10,066 --> 01:03:14,366 {\an1}"Some water's leaked into Soybean Oil Tank Number One, 1182 01:03:14,400 --> 01:03:15,600 {\an1}and it's spoiled." 1183 01:03:15,633 --> 01:03:16,733 Spoiled? 1184 01:03:16,766 --> 01:03:18,100 {\an1}I said, "Spoiled?" 1185 01:03:18,133 --> 01:03:19,533 {\an1}What... what do you mean, spoiled? 1186 01:03:19,566 --> 01:03:20,966 {\an1}Now, you understand, 1187 01:03:21,000 --> 01:03:26,566 {\an1}this tank contained 100,000 gallons of refined soybean oil 1188 01:03:26,600 --> 01:03:29,633 bound for the Durkee Famous Foods plant. 1189 01:03:29,666 --> 01:03:34,600 {\an1}If it were ruined, Glidden would be out $200,000. 1190 01:03:34,633 --> 01:03:38,166 {\an7}And such a blunder might cost me my job, 1191 01:03:38,200 --> 01:03:42,666 {\an7}so I was over there in a jiffy. (laughter) 1192 01:03:42,700 --> 01:03:45,033 {\an8}♪ 1193 01:03:45,066 --> 01:03:49,333 {\an8}VANCE: Julian found the giant tank fouled with white sludge. 1194 01:03:49,366 --> 01:03:52,900 {\an7}But his despair vanished in a flash of recognition: 1195 01:03:52,933 --> 01:03:54,833 {\an7}There were crystals in the sludge 1196 01:03:54,866 --> 01:03:57,133 {\an7}at the bottom of the tank. 1197 01:03:57,166 --> 01:04:01,200 {\an7}They were stigmasterol, the same crystals he'd found 1198 01:04:01,233 --> 01:04:04,700 {\an7}in the dish of Calabar oil. 1199 01:04:04,733 --> 01:04:07,666 {\an7}Now he realized what had forced the stigmasterol 1200 01:04:07,700 --> 01:04:10,633 {\an7}out of both oils: water. 1201 01:04:10,666 --> 01:04:12,133 {\an8}COOK: You couldn't destroy 1202 01:04:12,166 --> 01:04:15,366 {\an7}a 100,000-gallon tank of soybean oil 1203 01:04:15,400 --> 01:04:17,100 {\an7}to get this steroid out. 1204 01:04:17,133 --> 01:04:19,566 {\an7}But, when you add a little water to it, it falls out. 1205 01:04:19,600 --> 01:04:22,533 It precipitates; it separates on its own. 1206 01:04:25,133 --> 01:04:28,300 JULIAN: And it was this little accidental discovery-- 1207 01:04:28,333 --> 01:04:30,800 {\an1}the kind that characterize 1208 01:04:30,833 --> 01:04:32,666 {\an1}the development of science so often-- 1209 01:04:32,700 --> 01:04:36,933 {\an1}that led to a practical method for the isolation of steroids 1210 01:04:36,966 --> 01:04:39,466 {\an1}from soybean oil. 1211 01:04:39,500 --> 01:04:41,400 VANCE: Now a step ahead of Marker, 1212 01:04:41,433 --> 01:04:44,200 Julian developed an industrial process 1213 01:04:44,233 --> 01:04:48,833 {\an1}for converting stigmasterol into progesterone in bulk. 1214 01:04:48,866 --> 01:04:52,333 HEINDEL: Julian did not discover the primary chemistry 1215 01:04:52,366 --> 01:04:56,900 {\an1}that took stigmasterol over to progesterone-- 1216 01:04:56,933 --> 01:05:00,000 {\an1}that came out of a German group five years earlier-- 1217 01:05:00,033 --> 01:05:03,300 {\an1}but he was the first person to realize 1218 01:05:03,333 --> 01:05:05,533 {\an1}that it could be scaled up. 1219 01:05:05,566 --> 01:05:07,666 A company that's in the paint business 1220 01:05:07,700 --> 01:05:12,433 {\an1}suddenly becomes a player in the human sex hormone game. 1221 01:05:12,466 --> 01:05:15,133 VANCE: In 1940, Julian sent 1222 01:05:15,166 --> 01:05:17,933 {\an1}a one-pound package of progesterone 1223 01:05:17,966 --> 01:05:20,333 to the Upjohn pharmaceutical company. 1224 01:05:20,366 --> 01:05:26,033 {\an1}Shipped under armed guard, and valued at nearly $70,000, 1225 01:05:26,066 --> 01:05:28,533 it was the first commercial shipment 1226 01:05:28,566 --> 01:05:33,733 {\an1}of an artificial sex hormone produced anywhere in America. 1227 01:05:33,766 --> 01:05:36,766 {\an1}Testosterone and other artificial sex hormones 1228 01:05:36,800 --> 01:05:39,733 soon followed, bringing millions of dollars 1229 01:05:39,766 --> 01:05:43,800 {\an1}in unexpected revenue to Glidden. 1230 01:05:43,833 --> 01:05:47,400 {\an1}Despite his growing stature, Julian was barred 1231 01:05:47,433 --> 01:05:49,700 {\an1}from a major hormone conference 1232 01:05:49,733 --> 01:05:53,366 {\an1}held at an exclusive resort in Maryland. 1233 01:05:53,400 --> 01:05:57,166 {\an1}Only after three days of protest by his white colleagues 1234 01:05:57,200 --> 01:05:59,900 {\an1}was he finally admitted. 1235 01:05:59,933 --> 01:06:01,733 ♪ 1236 01:06:01,766 --> 01:06:05,600 {\an1}Within a year, Julian would face a new challenge. 1237 01:06:05,633 --> 01:06:07,866 {\an1}His rival, Russell Marker, 1238 01:06:07,900 --> 01:06:11,100 {\an1}had discovered that a giant yam in Mexico 1239 01:06:11,133 --> 01:06:14,700 {\an1}was even richer in steroids than soybeans. 1240 01:06:14,733 --> 01:06:19,266 {\an1}In 1944, Marker and two partners formed a company 1241 01:06:19,300 --> 01:06:24,733 {\an1}called Syntex to make hormones from the yam. 1242 01:06:24,766 --> 01:06:28,566 {\an1}For the rest of the decade,Syntex and Glidden would produce 1243 01:06:28,600 --> 01:06:34,733 {\an1}most of the world's supply of artificial sex hormones. 1244 01:06:34,766 --> 01:06:37,500 PETSKO: I think the decision to make substances like steroids 1245 01:06:37,533 --> 01:06:40,233 from plants,rather than from animal tissues, 1246 01:06:40,266 --> 01:06:42,166 was a landmark in the history of medicine 1247 01:06:42,200 --> 01:06:44,533 {\an1}as well as the history of chemistry. 1248 01:06:44,566 --> 01:06:46,966 It meant that you could take steroids 1249 01:06:47,000 --> 01:06:50,333 {\an1}that before were so rare thatyou barely knew what they were, 1250 01:06:50,366 --> 01:06:52,866 {\an1}and you could inject them into animals or people 1251 01:06:52,900 --> 01:06:55,766 {\an1}and see their effects on a variety of conditions. 1252 01:06:55,800 --> 01:06:58,533 {\an1}The possibilities that that opened up 1253 01:06:58,566 --> 01:07:02,133 {\an1}almost were limitless. 1254 01:07:02,166 --> 01:07:05,800 VANCE: The work of Julian and Marker would lay the foundation 1255 01:07:05,833 --> 01:07:08,433 {\an1}for a whole new class of medicines, 1256 01:07:08,466 --> 01:07:10,700 {\an1}including the birth control pill 1257 01:07:10,733 --> 01:07:15,600 {\an1}and a wonder drug that would soon take the world by storm. 1258 01:07:15,633 --> 01:07:20,366 ♪ 1259 01:07:20,400 --> 01:07:22,500 {\an1}By the mid-1940s, 1260 01:07:22,533 --> 01:07:26,700 {\an1}Julian's work at Glidden had won him national acclaim. 1261 01:07:26,733 --> 01:07:29,800 {\an1}With the outbreak of World War II, 1262 01:07:29,833 --> 01:07:32,366 {\an1}his Alpha protein became the chief ingredient 1263 01:07:32,400 --> 01:07:36,033 {\an1}in "bean soup," a firefighting foam credited with saving 1264 01:07:36,066 --> 01:07:39,100 {\an1}thousands of servicemen's lives. 1265 01:07:41,500 --> 01:07:44,200 {\an1}He was even featured in "Reader's Digest," 1266 01:07:44,233 --> 01:07:48,066 one of America's most popular magazines. 1267 01:07:48,100 --> 01:07:50,900 PRINTY: It was the beginning of white America's exposure 1268 01:07:50,933 --> 01:07:55,066 {\an1}to Dr. Percy Julian, and how he had to fight 1269 01:07:55,100 --> 01:07:59,700 {\an7}to overcome the oddsof being a Black man in America. 1270 01:07:59,733 --> 01:08:07,300 {\an1}And, in the context of the times, it made him a symbol. 1271 01:08:07,333 --> 01:08:10,800 SHOFFNER: Here was a person who looked like me 1272 01:08:10,833 --> 01:08:13,700 {\an1}who was not only in the field, 1273 01:08:13,733 --> 01:08:18,666 {\an7}but succeeding magnificently at the top of his profession. 1274 01:08:18,700 --> 01:08:20,500 {\an7}That was profound. 1275 01:08:20,533 --> 01:08:23,433 VANCE: Julian was named to the boards 1276 01:08:23,466 --> 01:08:26,633 {\an1}of half a dozen colleges and universities. 1277 01:08:26,666 --> 01:08:30,033 {\an1}He was showered with awards and honorary degrees, 1278 01:08:30,066 --> 01:08:33,133 and sought after as a public speaker. 1279 01:08:33,166 --> 01:08:37,666 {\an1}The NAACP awarded him its prestigious Spingarn Medal, 1280 01:08:37,700 --> 01:08:40,266 previously given to W.E.B. DuBois, 1281 01:08:40,300 --> 01:08:42,433 {\an1}George Washington Carver, 1282 01:08:42,466 --> 01:08:45,800 Paul Robeson, and Thurgood Marshall. 1283 01:08:45,833 --> 01:08:48,366 {\an1}And the "Chicago Sun-Times" named him 1284 01:08:48,400 --> 01:08:52,500 {\an1}"Chicagoan of the Year." 1285 01:08:52,533 --> 01:08:54,666 {\an1}As Julian's stature grew, 1286 01:08:54,700 --> 01:08:58,533 {\an1}so did his personal responsibilities. 1287 01:08:58,566 --> 01:09:02,966 {\an1}Anna had given birth to a son, Percy Jr., in 1940, 1288 01:09:03,000 --> 01:09:07,066 {\an1}and a daughter, Faith, four years later. 1289 01:09:07,100 --> 01:09:10,233 {\an1}With so many demands on Percy's time, 1290 01:09:10,266 --> 01:09:13,866 Anna shouldered the parenting duties. 1291 01:09:13,900 --> 01:09:15,800 {\an1}"For the children," she later wrote, 1292 01:09:15,833 --> 01:09:20,733 {\an1}"an after-dinner visit withtheir father was a rare treat." 1293 01:09:20,766 --> 01:09:26,233 {\an7}I hardly remember a weekend when he didn't work, 1294 01:09:26,266 --> 01:09:32,333 {\an1}but the time you had was quality time. 1295 01:09:32,366 --> 01:09:34,566 VANCE: By the end of the 1940s, 1296 01:09:34,600 --> 01:09:37,933 {\an1}the family had outgrown their Maywood home. 1297 01:09:37,966 --> 01:09:41,666 {\an1}The Julians began looking for a bigger one 1298 01:09:41,700 --> 01:09:45,500 {\an1}in a neighborhood that suited their new social status. 1299 01:09:45,533 --> 01:09:48,166 {\an1}They set their sights on Oak Park, 1300 01:09:48,200 --> 01:09:52,600 {\an1}one of Chicago's most affluent and exclusive suburbs. 1301 01:09:55,066 --> 01:09:57,100 {\an1}The village was home to doctors, 1302 01:09:57,133 --> 01:09:59,733 {\an1}lawyers, and wealthy businessmen. 1303 01:09:59,766 --> 01:10:01,966 {\an1}It had a reputation as a town 1304 01:10:02,000 --> 01:10:04,766 for the educated and enlightened. 1305 01:10:04,800 --> 01:10:06,766 VIRGINIA CASSIN: It's always been a community 1306 01:10:06,800 --> 01:10:12,466 {\an7}that was... had a little sense of its importance 1307 01:10:12,500 --> 01:10:16,566 {\an8}as far as being, perhaps, a cut above others. 1308 01:10:16,600 --> 01:10:18,133 MAN (on radio): Thanks to our good friends, 1309 01:10:18,166 --> 01:10:20,366 {\an1}the makers of Broadcast brand corned beef hash... 1310 01:10:20,400 --> 01:10:22,766 VANCE: Oak Park even had its own radio show, 1311 01:10:22,800 --> 01:10:25,133 {\an1}familiar to listeners all over America 1312 01:10:25,166 --> 01:10:27,200 {\an1}as "Breakfast with the Johnsons." 1313 01:10:27,233 --> 01:10:30,000 GIRL (ON RADIO): Daddy, I have to give a report in school, 1314 01:10:30,033 --> 01:10:32,033 {\an1}so I'm gonna give it to you. 1315 01:10:32,066 --> 01:10:34,766 {\an7}Well, these days, they'd call it reality radio, 1316 01:10:34,800 --> 01:10:37,200 {\an7}and that's what it was, 1317 01:10:37,233 --> 01:10:41,233 {\an1}7:30 in the morning, Monday through Friday. 1318 01:10:41,266 --> 01:10:42,500 MAN (ON RADIO): Pamela? 1319 01:10:42,533 --> 01:10:45,000 JOHNSON: The microphones were all over the house. 1320 01:10:45,033 --> 01:10:49,133 {\an1}The children would wander in, and the milkman would come in. 1321 01:10:49,166 --> 01:10:51,833 GIRL (ON RADIO): We were doing imitations. I did Jimmy Durante. 1322 01:10:51,866 --> 01:10:55,433 JOHNSON: We talked about us and the world around us. 1323 01:10:55,466 --> 01:10:58,600 {\an1}JOHNSON (ON RADIO): Well, I'm glad to see you're learning how to make money. 1324 01:10:58,633 --> 01:11:02,666 VANCE: The world around the Johnsons was cultured, privileged 1325 01:11:02,700 --> 01:11:04,600 and white. 1326 01:11:04,633 --> 01:11:07,333 {\an1}The few African-Americans who lived in Oak Park 1327 01:11:07,366 --> 01:11:10,433 {\an1}worked as servants and laborers. 1328 01:11:10,466 --> 01:11:14,400 BOBBIE RAYMOND: When the Julians came along, I'm sure that this was a shock 1329 01:11:14,433 --> 01:11:17,533 {\an1}to many people who lived in Oak Park. 1330 01:11:17,566 --> 01:11:20,433 {\an7}Here they are, two very well-educated people, 1331 01:11:20,466 --> 01:11:22,166 {\an7}both with Ph.D.s, 1332 01:11:22,200 --> 01:11:26,000 {\an7}he a very successful chemist and businessman, 1333 01:11:26,033 --> 01:11:32,133 {\an1}and they purchased a house, a large house, on a large lot. 1334 01:11:32,166 --> 01:11:36,300 JOHNSON: There was some nasty tongue-wagging going on: 1335 01:11:36,333 --> 01:11:38,133 {\an1}"Who do these people think they are 1336 01:11:38,166 --> 01:11:39,700 {\an1}"that they can move in here 1337 01:11:39,733 --> 01:11:42,266 {\an1}and take over our neighborhood?" 1338 01:11:42,300 --> 01:11:47,700 VANCE: Trouble began even before the Julians could move in. 1339 01:11:47,733 --> 01:11:52,500 JULIAN, JR.: My dad was out of town, and my mom got a call 1340 01:11:52,533 --> 01:11:56,033 {\an1}from the Oak Park Fire Department. 1341 01:11:56,066 --> 01:11:57,633 {\an1}"Something has occurred at the house, 1342 01:11:57,666 --> 01:11:59,666 {\an1}"this is the fire department, 1343 01:11:59,700 --> 01:12:03,400 {\an1}could you please come?" 1344 01:12:05,166 --> 01:12:10,266 {\an1}Even as a 10-year-old, I knew that this was an arson. 1345 01:12:10,300 --> 01:12:12,633 {\an1}There was no attempt 1346 01:12:12,666 --> 01:12:13,666 to hide this, 1347 01:12:13,700 --> 01:12:16,600 {\an1}to make it look like an accident. 1348 01:12:18,000 --> 01:12:19,966 {\an1}I see these bottles, 1349 01:12:20,000 --> 01:12:21,433 {\an1}these huge bottles, 1350 01:12:21,466 --> 01:12:25,700 {\an1}and I could smell gasoline. 1351 01:12:25,733 --> 01:12:28,700 {\an1}The stairs were soaked all the way up to the second floor. 1352 01:12:32,633 --> 01:12:34,733 {\an1}I think my mother was scared. 1353 01:12:34,766 --> 01:12:38,733 But if she was, she didn't show it. 1354 01:12:38,766 --> 01:12:43,666 ♪ 1355 01:12:57,400 --> 01:13:00,766 {\an1}They lit the fuse on the outside. 1356 01:13:00,800 --> 01:13:04,733 {\an1}The door caught on, 1357 01:13:04,766 --> 01:13:07,933 {\an1}but it sealed so well 1358 01:13:07,966 --> 01:13:11,233 {\an1}that the flames couldn't get under the door. 1359 01:13:11,266 --> 01:13:13,000 {\an1}But had the bottles caught, 1360 01:13:13,033 --> 01:13:15,000 {\an1}the flames would have gone right up the stairwell-- 1361 01:13:15,033 --> 01:13:17,066 {\an1}a natural chimney-- 1362 01:13:17,100 --> 01:13:18,900 and the house could've been a total loss. 1363 01:13:18,933 --> 01:13:21,600 {\an1}And I looked at my mom, and I said, 1364 01:13:21,633 --> 01:13:23,066 {\an1}"Why would anybody want to do this?" 1365 01:13:23,100 --> 01:13:26,566 {\an1}And she explained it: 1366 01:13:26,600 --> 01:13:29,400 {\an1}they didn't want us to live there, 1367 01:13:29,433 --> 01:13:31,366 {\an1}and didn't want us to live there because 1368 01:13:31,400 --> 01:13:34,600 {\an1}of the color of our skin. 1369 01:13:36,733 --> 01:13:42,700 VANCE:Now Percy Julian, accomplished, affluent, ambitious, 1370 01:13:42,733 --> 01:13:45,533 {\an1}was face-to-face with the same violence 1371 01:13:45,566 --> 01:13:47,666 {\an1}African-Americans all over Chicago 1372 01:13:47,700 --> 01:13:49,866 {\an1}were encountering 1373 01:13:49,900 --> 01:13:52,700 {\an1}as they tried to move into white neighborhoods. 1374 01:13:52,733 --> 01:13:55,466 VERNON JARRETT: After the war, 1375 01:13:55,500 --> 01:13:57,766 {\an1}when the ghetto was bursting 1376 01:13:57,800 --> 01:14:01,566 {\an7}at the seams and people trying to move out, 1377 01:14:01,600 --> 01:14:04,366 {\an7}every first Negro, they said, to move in a block 1378 01:14:04,400 --> 01:14:05,900 {\an1}was going to catch hell. 1379 01:14:05,933 --> 01:14:09,733 {\an1}A mob would be out there to greet you. 1380 01:14:09,766 --> 01:14:12,033 {\an1}I've seen it, covered it. 1381 01:14:12,066 --> 01:14:14,866 VANCE:There were no mobs in Oak Park, 1382 01:14:14,900 --> 01:14:16,866 {\an1}but the arson was a clear warning 1383 01:14:16,900 --> 01:14:19,333 {\an1}that some in the community would stop at nothing 1384 01:14:19,366 --> 01:14:21,700 {\an1}to keep the Julians out. 1385 01:14:21,733 --> 01:14:23,233 JULIAN, JR.: The arson attempt 1386 01:14:23,266 --> 01:14:27,933 did not succeed in intimidating my mom and dad. 1387 01:14:27,966 --> 01:14:30,966 {\an1}Nor could it have. 1388 01:14:31,000 --> 01:14:34,466 {\an1}They were simply not intimidatable. 1389 01:14:34,500 --> 01:14:36,700 JULIAN: Once the violence began, 1390 01:14:36,733 --> 01:14:41,666 {\an1}Anna and I felt we had no choice but to stay. 1391 01:14:41,700 --> 01:14:44,933 {\an1}To leave would have been cowardly and wrong. 1392 01:14:44,966 --> 01:14:48,000 {\an1}The right of a people to live where they want to, 1393 01:14:48,033 --> 01:14:51,566 {\an1}without fear, is more important than my science. 1394 01:14:51,600 --> 01:14:56,266 {\an1}And I was ready to give up my science and my life 1395 01:14:56,300 --> 01:14:59,900 {\an1}to bring a halt to this senseless terrorism. 1396 01:14:59,933 --> 01:15:03,266 VANCE: The Julians moved in. 1397 01:15:03,300 --> 01:15:06,466 {\an1}And when a few months passed with no further trouble, 1398 01:15:06,500 --> 01:15:10,033 {\an1}Percy and Anna felt confident enough to go out of town, 1399 01:15:10,066 --> 01:15:13,266 {\an1}leaving the children with a baby-sitter. 1400 01:15:13,300 --> 01:15:15,200 {\an1}(distant dog barking) 1401 01:15:15,233 --> 01:15:20,533 ♪ 1402 01:15:27,500 --> 01:15:28,966 Let's go! 1403 01:15:32,400 --> 01:15:34,400 JULIAN, JR.: The first my parents saw of it 1404 01:15:34,433 --> 01:15:36,000 {\an1}was when they saw it 1405 01:15:36,033 --> 01:15:38,700 in the paper 1406 01:15:38,733 --> 01:15:40,700 the next day, 1407 01:15:40,733 --> 01:15:45,566 with me pointing to the hole in the ground. 1408 01:15:45,600 --> 01:15:47,833 GIRL: But Daddy, I hear that there's... 1409 01:15:47,866 --> 01:15:51,433 JOHNSON: I'll never forget the morning that my daughter Sandra said, 1410 01:15:51,466 --> 01:15:52,766 {\an1}"Daddy, they bombed my friend 1411 01:15:52,800 --> 01:15:55,466 {\an1}Percy Julian's house last night." 1412 01:15:55,500 --> 01:15:58,400 {\an1}And then she said, "Daddy, why did they do that? 1413 01:15:58,433 --> 01:16:02,433 {\an1}Why would they bomb their house?" 1414 01:16:02,466 --> 01:16:07,133 {\an1}I put on a record, because I didn't have the answer. 1415 01:16:07,166 --> 01:16:10,000 ♪ 1416 01:16:10,033 --> 01:16:14,166 JULIAN, JR.: My dad was angry when he came home, 1417 01:16:14,200 --> 01:16:20,533 I mean really angry, and clearly ready to fight. 1418 01:16:20,566 --> 01:16:24,666 He looked at this as an attempt to murder his kids. 1419 01:16:24,700 --> 01:16:31,166 {\an1}For him, there was nothing redeemable about them at all. 1420 01:16:31,200 --> 01:16:32,633 {\an1}(indistinct arguing) 1421 01:16:32,666 --> 01:16:37,633 {\an1}I'm taking this in like there's no tomorrow. 1422 01:16:37,666 --> 01:16:41,966 {\an1}And actually, you know how everything has a good side? 1423 01:16:42,000 --> 01:16:44,100 {\an1}The good side was, as a kid, 1424 01:16:44,133 --> 01:16:47,066 {\an7}I got to spend more time with my dad, 1425 01:16:47,100 --> 01:16:52,633 {\an7}and got to stay up late, 'cause we'd sit in the tree outside. 1426 01:16:52,666 --> 01:16:54,933 {\an1}He'd sit there with a shotgun. 1427 01:16:54,966 --> 01:16:59,300 {\an1}And we'd talk about why someone would want to do this 1428 01:16:59,333 --> 01:17:05,166 {\an1}and how wrong it was and how stupid it was. 1429 01:17:06,766 --> 01:17:08,933 VANCE: The Julians would continue 1430 01:17:08,966 --> 01:17:10,866 {\an1}to receive threatening letters 1431 01:17:10,900 --> 01:17:12,833 for years after. 1432 01:17:12,866 --> 01:17:15,233 {\an1}No one was ever arrested. 1433 01:17:15,266 --> 01:17:18,300 {\an1}Many Oak Park residents were horrified at the violence 1434 01:17:18,333 --> 01:17:20,433 {\an1}against the family. 1435 01:17:20,466 --> 01:17:23,366 {\an7}I think people were shocked 1436 01:17:23,400 --> 01:17:26,366 {\an7}that anyone should be treated that way. 1437 01:17:26,400 --> 01:17:29,966 {\an1}And there were people who came forward to say, 1438 01:17:30,000 --> 01:17:33,433 {\an1}"There are a lot of us that don't feel that way." 1439 01:17:33,466 --> 01:17:35,833 JOHNSON: There was at least 200 or more people 1440 01:17:35,866 --> 01:17:38,700 {\an1}that marched right up in front of the Julian house 1441 01:17:38,733 --> 01:17:43,833 {\an1}on East Avenue and said, "He stays, he stays." 1442 01:17:46,566 --> 01:17:49,066 VANCE: Even as events in Oak Park 1443 01:17:49,100 --> 01:17:51,400 {\an1}threatened to upend his personal life, 1444 01:17:51,433 --> 01:17:55,033 {\an1}a new scientific challenge was drawing Percy Julian 1445 01:17:55,066 --> 01:17:59,833 {\an1}into one of the great medical dramas of the 20th century. 1446 01:17:59,866 --> 01:18:03,233 {\an1}At the center was one of the oldest 1447 01:18:03,266 --> 01:18:07,366 {\an1}and most painful of humandiseases, rheumatoid arthritis. 1448 01:18:07,400 --> 01:18:09,300 CHARLES PLOTZ: "Arthritis" is a generic word 1449 01:18:09,333 --> 01:18:12,100 {\an7}for inflammation of the joints 1450 01:18:12,133 --> 01:18:15,466 {\an7}and encompasses a lot of different diseases. 1451 01:18:15,500 --> 01:18:18,933 {\an7}But the disease that truly inflames the joint 1452 01:18:18,966 --> 01:18:21,600 {\an1}and causes destruction of the cartilage 1453 01:18:21,633 --> 01:18:25,433 {\an1}and the bone within the joint is rheumatoid arthritis. 1454 01:18:25,466 --> 01:18:30,500 VANCE: Scientists had been seeking a cure for rheumatoid arthritis 1455 01:18:30,533 --> 01:18:32,500 {\an1}for hundreds of years. 1456 01:18:32,533 --> 01:18:35,133 {\an1}But by the middle of the 20th century 1457 01:18:35,166 --> 01:18:36,300 {\an1}those efforts had yielded 1458 01:18:36,333 --> 01:18:37,833 {\an1}only a bizarre assortment 1459 01:18:37,866 --> 01:18:40,866 {\an1}of mostly ineffective treatments: 1460 01:18:40,900 --> 01:18:44,900 {\an1}chin slings, gold injections, 1461 01:18:44,933 --> 01:18:50,933 {\an1}mineral baths, cobra venom, bee stings, 1462 01:18:50,966 --> 01:18:54,633 {\an1}even electricity. 1463 01:18:54,666 --> 01:18:57,200 PLOTZ: People would swear by them, 1464 01:18:57,233 --> 01:19:00,700 but nothing, over the long run, worked. 1465 01:19:00,733 --> 01:19:04,566 VANCE: The situation changed dramatically 1466 01:19:04,600 --> 01:19:09,100 {\an1}at the 1949 annual meeting of American rheumatologists. 1467 01:19:09,133 --> 01:19:13,800 {\an1}Philip Hench, of the Mayo Clinic, presented a film 1468 01:19:13,833 --> 01:19:17,266 {\an1}showing how arthritis patients responded to a new drug, 1469 01:19:17,300 --> 01:19:22,500 {\an1}called Compound E and later named cortisone. 1470 01:19:22,533 --> 01:19:26,666 PLOTZ: They were severely crippled, 1471 01:19:26,700 --> 01:19:32,466 {\an1}having to drink by holding a cup in both hands. 1472 01:19:32,500 --> 01:19:36,000 {\an1}And Philip Hench gave them an injection, 1473 01:19:36,033 --> 01:19:40,366 {\an1}and within 12 to 24 hours, the same patients 1474 01:19:40,400 --> 01:19:43,966 were having no difficulty at all. 1475 01:19:44,000 --> 01:19:48,100 {\an1}It was one of the most astonishing things 1476 01:19:48,133 --> 01:19:51,700 {\an1}that has ever happened in medicine. 1477 01:19:51,733 --> 01:19:53,633 You didn't need a double-blind study. 1478 01:19:53,666 --> 01:19:56,366 {\an1}You just saw it happen. 1479 01:19:56,400 --> 01:19:58,833 And the audience 1480 01:19:58,866 --> 01:20:02,100 {\an1}stood up and cheered. 1481 01:20:02,133 --> 01:20:04,600 ♪ 1482 01:20:09,366 --> 01:20:12,100 {\an1}Well, every patient with rheumatoid arthritis 1483 01:20:12,133 --> 01:20:17,300 {\an1}immediately wanted to be put on this magic drug. 1484 01:20:17,333 --> 01:20:22,533 VANCE: The problem was, there was none to be had. 1485 01:20:22,566 --> 01:20:24,800 {\an1}Hench had performed his tests 1486 01:20:24,833 --> 01:20:27,033 {\an1}with a few precious grams of cortisone 1487 01:20:27,066 --> 01:20:31,566 {\an1}sent to him by Lewis Sarett, a young chemist at Merck. 1488 01:20:31,600 --> 01:20:35,300 {\an1}Sarett had worked for years to synthesize cortisone 1489 01:20:35,333 --> 01:20:38,366 from the bile of slaughtered oxen. 1490 01:20:38,400 --> 01:20:41,066 {\an1}But his chemical pathway was the most complex 1491 01:20:41,100 --> 01:20:45,433 {\an1}ever attempted in industry, requiring more than 30 steps. 1492 01:20:45,466 --> 01:20:48,333 {\an1}And thousands of cattle carcasses 1493 01:20:48,366 --> 01:20:50,466 {\an1}would be needed to make enough cortisone 1494 01:20:50,500 --> 01:20:52,966 {\an1}to treat a single patient for a year. 1495 01:20:53,000 --> 01:20:57,966 {\an1}To treat the millions suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, 1496 01:20:58,000 --> 01:21:00,133 {\an1}scientists would need to find 1497 01:21:00,166 --> 01:21:02,600 {\an1}a more plentiful starting material 1498 01:21:02,633 --> 01:21:06,133 {\an1}and simplify the process of producing cortisone. 1499 01:21:06,166 --> 01:21:10,000 {\an1}Chemists from all over the world sprang to the challenge, 1500 01:21:10,033 --> 01:21:13,166 {\an1}launching one of the most intensive research efforts 1501 01:21:13,200 --> 01:21:15,066 {\an1}in the history of medicine. 1502 01:21:15,100 --> 01:21:18,333 {\an1}Julian threw himself into the effort. 1503 01:21:18,366 --> 01:21:22,100 SMITH:The only reason that Glidden is in the great cortisone race 1504 01:21:22,133 --> 01:21:24,300 {\an1}is because of Percy Julian. 1505 01:21:24,333 --> 01:21:26,200 {\an1}He knows this chemistry, 1506 01:21:26,233 --> 01:21:28,200 {\an1}and so he can establish a position for them. 1507 01:21:28,233 --> 01:21:31,766 {\an7}The American pharmaceutical industry, after World War II, 1508 01:21:31,800 --> 01:21:34,600 {\an8}is not the giant that we know of today. 1509 01:21:34,633 --> 01:21:39,333 {\an1}This business is really just getting going, 1510 01:21:39,366 --> 01:21:43,033 {\an1}so there is room for entrepreneurs in this period. 1511 01:21:43,066 --> 01:21:47,166 VANCE: One of those entrepreneurs was Carl Djerassi, 1512 01:21:47,200 --> 01:21:50,866 then a young chemist at Syntex, the small Mexican company 1513 01:21:50,900 --> 01:21:53,133 {\an1}that made hormones from yams. 1514 01:21:53,166 --> 01:21:55,500 CARL DJERASSI: Julian and I were competitors, 1515 01:21:55,533 --> 01:21:59,166 {\an7}and we were in this race with people at Harvard, 1516 01:21:59,200 --> 01:22:02,633 {\an7}and at Oxford, and in Zurich, and at Merck, 1517 01:22:02,666 --> 01:22:05,000 and, I mean, all the major companies. 1518 01:22:05,033 --> 01:22:07,666 {\an7}It was one time when 1519 01:22:07,700 --> 01:22:10,600 {\an7}basic research in industry 1520 01:22:10,633 --> 01:22:14,066 {\an7}competed on equal terms with that in universities. 1521 01:22:14,100 --> 01:22:17,433 {\an8}VANCE: The prize these chemists were after 1522 01:22:17,466 --> 01:22:21,700 {\an7}was not actually a drug but a natural hormone. 1523 01:22:24,300 --> 01:22:26,733 {\an8}Cortisone is one of the many hormones 1524 01:22:26,766 --> 01:22:28,633 {\an7}made by the adrenal glands, 1525 01:22:28,666 --> 01:22:32,466 {\an8}two small organs that lie atop the kidneys. 1526 01:22:32,500 --> 01:22:36,333 {\an7}Small amounts of cortisone are always circulating 1527 01:22:36,366 --> 01:22:39,466 {\an7}in the bloodstream, controlling the body's responses 1528 01:22:39,500 --> 01:22:42,333 {\an1}to stress and inflammation, 1529 01:22:42,366 --> 01:22:46,066 {\an1}but much larger doses of cortisone 1530 01:22:46,100 --> 01:22:49,566 {\an1}were needed to relieve the symptoms of arthritis. 1531 01:22:49,600 --> 01:22:52,133 {\an1}Julian hoped to make cortisone from soybeans, 1532 01:22:52,166 --> 01:22:56,966 {\an1}just as he had the sex hormones. 1533 01:22:57,000 --> 01:22:59,466 {\an1}Like progesterone, 1534 01:22:59,500 --> 01:23:03,400 {\an1}cortisone had the same four interlocking rings of carbon 1535 01:23:03,433 --> 01:23:06,400 {\an1}known as the steroid nucleus, 1536 01:23:06,433 --> 01:23:09,766 {\an1}but cortisone has an unusual feature: 1537 01:23:09,800 --> 01:23:16,066 {\an1}one of its oxygen atoms is inwhat chemists call position 11. 1538 01:23:16,100 --> 01:23:19,366 {\an1}Julian set out to make cortisone by first synthesizing 1539 01:23:19,400 --> 01:23:25,066 {\an1}an almost identical compoundcalled Reichstein's Substance S, 1540 01:23:25,100 --> 01:23:27,333 {\an1}or Compound S. 1541 01:23:27,366 --> 01:23:29,900 JULIAN: Look at the two formulae. 1542 01:23:29,933 --> 01:23:33,366 {\an1}Compound S differs from cortisone 1543 01:23:33,400 --> 01:23:37,100 {\an1}by one lone little oxygen atom. 1544 01:23:37,133 --> 01:23:39,400 {\an1}And it couldn't possibly be so strikingly different 1545 01:23:39,433 --> 01:23:41,133 {\an1}in properties, I thought. 1546 01:23:41,166 --> 01:23:43,266 {\an1}And if it is, why in the devil 1547 01:23:43,300 --> 01:23:46,633 {\an1}did nature have to put so much in the adrenal glands? 1548 01:23:46,666 --> 01:23:49,700 {\an1}Well, if you reallythink nature is smart, 1549 01:23:49,733 --> 01:23:52,200 {\an1}your guess would be 1550 01:23:52,233 --> 01:23:55,566 {\an1}that it's there as a reservoir from which the adrenals 1551 01:23:55,600 --> 01:23:59,200 {\an1}can make cortisone as the body needs it, 1552 01:23:59,233 --> 01:24:02,866 {\an1}by simply sticking in this one oxygen atom. 1553 01:24:02,900 --> 01:24:05,533 ♪ 1554 01:24:05,566 --> 01:24:09,466 VANCE: Julian hoped to convert Compound S into cortisone, 1555 01:24:09,500 --> 01:24:11,633 {\an1}as the body does, 1556 01:24:11,666 --> 01:24:14,633 {\an1}but he knew that inserting that one oxygen atom 1557 01:24:14,666 --> 01:24:18,166 {\an1}in exactly the right place would not be a simple matter. 1558 01:24:18,200 --> 01:24:19,800 PETSKO: In the body, 1559 01:24:19,833 --> 01:24:23,533 {\an7}there's a special enzyme that knows how to do this 1560 01:24:23,566 --> 01:24:26,500 {\an7}and does it very elegantly, in a simple reaction. 1561 01:24:26,533 --> 01:24:29,733 {\an1}But to do this chemically,in the lab, in large quantities, 1562 01:24:29,766 --> 01:24:31,266 {\an1}was fiendishly difficult. 1563 01:24:31,300 --> 01:24:34,333 {\an1}In the laboratory, in order to add any atom 1564 01:24:34,366 --> 01:24:38,000 {\an1}to this carbon atom requires 1565 01:24:38,033 --> 01:24:43,700 {\an7}severe conditions-- high heat, high pressure, 1566 01:24:43,733 --> 01:24:49,266 {\an7}very reactive reagents that will attack this atom. 1567 01:24:49,300 --> 01:24:51,233 {\an1}The difficulty with those conditions is 1568 01:24:51,266 --> 01:24:53,966 {\an1}that they will attack every other carbon atom 1569 01:24:54,000 --> 01:24:56,233 {\an1}on this skeleton as well. 1570 01:24:56,266 --> 01:24:59,166 {\an7}You want to put the oxygen only in that position. 1571 01:24:59,200 --> 01:25:01,600 {\an7}It doesn't do you any good to put it there if, 1572 01:25:01,633 --> 01:25:03,033 {\an7}simultaneously, you put it somewhere else 1573 01:25:03,066 --> 01:25:04,600 {\an7}where it's not supposed to be. 1574 01:25:04,633 --> 01:25:09,766 VANCE: Chemists across the world faced the same challenge. 1575 01:25:09,800 --> 01:25:14,066 {\an1}Whatever material they started with, plant or animal, 1576 01:25:14,100 --> 01:25:16,800 {\an1}they had to find a way to insert that one oxygen atom 1577 01:25:16,833 --> 01:25:19,666 {\an1}into just the right position. 1578 01:25:19,700 --> 01:25:24,300 {\an1}This was the single biggest obstacle to making cortisone. 1579 01:25:24,333 --> 01:25:28,100 {\an1}As Julian struggled to find a solution, 1580 01:25:28,133 --> 01:25:30,333 {\an1}Glidden executives were losing patience 1581 01:25:30,366 --> 01:25:32,600 {\an1}with his Compound S approach. 1582 01:25:32,633 --> 01:25:35,866 PETSKO: It's hard to read another chemist's mind, 1583 01:25:35,900 --> 01:25:38,000 {\an1}but I think that Julian probably knew 1584 01:25:38,033 --> 01:25:42,400 {\an1}that this was so close to the final structure of cortisone, 1585 01:25:42,433 --> 01:25:45,566 {\an1}that if he could makeSubstance S in large quantities, 1586 01:25:45,600 --> 01:25:48,500 {\an1}inexpensively, he would, eventually, 1587 01:25:48,533 --> 01:25:51,833 {\an1}or someone would, eventually, find a way to insert 1588 01:25:51,866 --> 01:25:54,300 {\an1}that troublesome oxygen into the 11 position, 1589 01:25:54,333 --> 01:25:57,600 {\an1}because that was the only remaining step needed 1590 01:25:57,633 --> 01:25:59,066 {\an1}to convert that substance 1591 01:25:59,100 --> 01:26:01,233 {\an1}into the full-blown hormone, cortisone. 1592 01:26:01,266 --> 01:26:05,866 VANCE: But the problem of inserting that one oxygen atom 1593 01:26:05,900 --> 01:26:10,066 continued to frustrate chemists for more than two years. 1594 01:26:10,100 --> 01:26:14,433 {\an1}The cortisone shortage became a crisis, 1595 01:26:14,466 --> 01:26:17,066 {\an1}as the price topped $4,000 an ounce, 1596 01:26:17,100 --> 01:26:20,433 {\an1}one hundred times the price of gold. 1597 01:26:20,466 --> 01:26:24,700 PLOTZ: I would get requests from all over the country, 1598 01:26:24,733 --> 01:26:27,200 {\an1}"Can't you get me some cortisone? 1599 01:26:27,233 --> 01:26:31,400 {\an1}"Can't you get me a little cortisone for me? 1600 01:26:31,433 --> 01:26:32,533 "For my aunt? 1601 01:26:32,566 --> 01:26:34,100 For my patient?" 1602 01:26:34,133 --> 01:26:36,866 {\an1}And I couldn't get it, for me or for anybody. 1603 01:26:36,900 --> 01:26:39,900 ♪ 1604 01:26:39,933 --> 01:26:45,000 VANCE:Finally, in the summer of 1951, four teams of chemists 1605 01:26:45,033 --> 01:26:49,266 {\an1}announced they had found new ways to make cortisone. 1606 01:26:49,300 --> 01:26:54,333 {\an1}The winners included teams from Harvard, Merck, and Syntex. 1607 01:26:54,366 --> 01:26:56,400 {\an1}We got an enormous amount of publicity, 1608 01:26:56,433 --> 01:26:58,533 {\an1}including "Life" magazine and places like this, 1609 01:26:58,566 --> 01:27:02,733 {\an1}and that put Syntex on the scientific map. 1610 01:27:02,766 --> 01:27:05,000 VANCE: But the chemists' glory was short-lived. 1611 01:27:05,033 --> 01:27:07,466 {\an1}Six months later, 1612 01:27:07,500 --> 01:27:09,633 {\an1}they were upstaged by a surprising discovery 1613 01:27:09,666 --> 01:27:14,766 {\an1}from scientists at Upjohn, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. 1614 01:27:14,800 --> 01:27:17,066 ANNOUNCER: From laboratories in Michigan 1615 01:27:17,100 --> 01:27:18,233 comes the new process for making 1616 01:27:18,266 --> 01:27:21,533 {\an1}unlimited quantities of cortisone. 1617 01:27:21,566 --> 01:27:24,300 {\an1}That bubble of conceit and pride and pleasure 1618 01:27:24,333 --> 01:27:26,933 {\an1}was completely punctured, when we discovered 1619 01:27:26,966 --> 01:27:29,100 {\an1}there were these yokels in Kalamazoo who, 1620 01:27:29,133 --> 01:27:31,400 {\an1}in one step, did something that took us 1621 01:27:31,433 --> 01:27:34,100 {\an1}15 steps-- very clever steps-- to do. 1622 01:27:34,133 --> 01:27:37,200 VANCE: These so-called "yokels" 1623 01:27:37,233 --> 01:27:39,766 {\an1}had discovered a common mold 1624 01:27:39,800 --> 01:27:40,900 {\an1}that could effortlessly 1625 01:27:40,933 --> 01:27:44,633 {\an1}insert an oxygen atom into the 11 position. 1626 01:27:44,666 --> 01:27:47,733 PETSKO: Upjohn figured out that they could do it 1627 01:27:47,766 --> 01:27:48,866 {\an1}by a fermentation process. 1628 01:27:48,900 --> 01:27:50,666 {\an1}In other words, it wasn't done 1629 01:27:50,700 --> 01:27:52,966 {\an1}in a chemistry lab at all. 1630 01:27:53,000 --> 01:27:57,933 {\an1}It was done by a microorganism that possessed an enzyme 1631 01:27:57,966 --> 01:28:00,800 {\an1}that was capable, just like the human body is capable, 1632 01:28:00,833 --> 01:28:03,800 {\an1}of attaching an oxygen in exactly the right place. 1633 01:28:03,833 --> 01:28:06,566 VANCE: Upjohn's discovery was the breakthrough 1634 01:28:06,600 --> 01:28:08,666 that would end 1635 01:28:08,700 --> 01:28:09,666 {\an1}the cortisone shortage. 1636 01:28:09,700 --> 01:28:10,700 {\an1}Its mold could work 1637 01:28:10,733 --> 01:28:14,366 {\an1}its oxygen-inserting magic on a range 1638 01:28:14,400 --> 01:28:16,433 {\an1}of steroid materials, 1639 01:28:16,466 --> 01:28:19,133 {\an1}including Julian's Compound S. 1640 01:28:19,166 --> 01:28:20,866 PETSKO: All of a sudden, 1641 01:28:20,900 --> 01:28:24,300 Substance S was very important. 1642 01:28:24,333 --> 01:28:26,366 This compound, that didn't have 1643 01:28:26,400 --> 01:28:28,800 {\an1}any particular important biological activities 1644 01:28:28,833 --> 01:28:33,033 {\an1}of its own, became ideal as a starting material 1645 01:28:33,066 --> 01:28:34,533 {\an1}to produce cortisone. 1646 01:28:34,566 --> 01:28:38,366 {\an1}And Julian was sitting on the process to make that. 1647 01:28:38,400 --> 01:28:41,066 JULIAN: Many well-meaning people have exaggerated my contribution 1648 01:28:41,100 --> 01:28:43,766 {\an1}to the chemistry of the cortisone 1649 01:28:43,800 --> 01:28:46,100 family of drugs. 1650 01:28:46,133 --> 01:28:48,300 {\an1}I've even read somewhere 1651 01:28:48,333 --> 01:28:50,433 {\an1}that I was "the discoverer of cortisone." 1652 01:28:50,466 --> 01:28:52,633 Not so. 1653 01:28:52,666 --> 01:28:55,000 {\an1}But we made a good choice, indeed, 1654 01:28:55,033 --> 01:28:57,133 {\an1}in choosing to synthesize Compound S 1655 01:28:57,166 --> 01:28:59,700 {\an1}as our first endeavor. 1656 01:28:59,733 --> 01:29:02,333 {\an1}Cortisone could now bemade from Compound S 1657 01:29:02,366 --> 01:29:04,666 {\an1}simply by dumping itinto a tank 1658 01:29:04,700 --> 01:29:06,800 and throwing in a microorganism 1659 01:29:06,833 --> 01:29:10,566 and fishing out cortisone afterthe organism has done its work. 1660 01:29:10,600 --> 01:29:13,100 VANCE: But Julian's Compound S 1661 01:29:13,133 --> 01:29:16,333 {\an1}was not the only material Upjohn's mold 1662 01:29:16,366 --> 01:29:18,033 {\an1}could transform into cortisone. 1663 01:29:18,066 --> 01:29:20,966 DJERASSI: Suddenly, Upjohn came to Syntex-- 1664 01:29:21,000 --> 01:29:24,000 {\an1}I still remember, because I was there-- and said, 1665 01:29:24,033 --> 01:29:28,166 {\an1}"Would you quote us the costof progesterone at a ton level?" 1666 01:29:28,200 --> 01:29:30,066 {\an1}Well, we were completely flabbergasted. 1667 01:29:30,100 --> 01:29:32,933 {\an1}At that time, still, the worlddemand was a few hundred kilos. 1668 01:29:32,966 --> 01:29:36,300 VANCE:The request could mean only one thing: 1669 01:29:36,333 --> 01:29:39,166 {\an1}Upjohn had decided to produce cortisone 1670 01:29:39,200 --> 01:29:42,266 {\an1}from progesterone made by Syntex, 1671 01:29:42,300 --> 01:29:45,800 {\an1}not from Julian's Compound S. 1672 01:29:45,833 --> 01:29:49,533 {\an1}Syntex had a big advantage: its starting material, 1673 01:29:49,566 --> 01:29:53,166 {\an1}the Mexican yam, was a richer source of steroids 1674 01:29:53,200 --> 01:29:58,133 {\an1}than the soybean, so cortisone made this way was cheaper. 1675 01:29:58,166 --> 01:30:02,700 {\an1}But other companies were alsogearing up to produce cortisone. 1676 01:30:02,733 --> 01:30:05,833 {\an1}Julian could still win their business, 1677 01:30:05,866 --> 01:30:08,266 {\an1}if he abandoned soybeans 1678 01:30:08,300 --> 01:30:12,466 {\an1}and made Compound S from the Mexican yam. 1679 01:30:12,500 --> 01:30:15,900 {\an1}But when Julian appealed to Glidden's chairman 1680 01:30:15,933 --> 01:30:19,800 {\an1}to make the switch, the answer was, "No." 1681 01:30:19,833 --> 01:30:21,633 JULIAN: I begged him to hold on; 1682 01:30:21,666 --> 01:30:24,566 {\an1}we could set up a simple yam processing plant in Mexico, 1683 01:30:24,600 --> 01:30:26,200 {\an1}and with Glidden's influence 1684 01:30:26,233 --> 01:30:28,566 {\an1}we could soon be masters 1685 01:30:28,600 --> 01:30:31,066 {\an1}of the field. 1686 01:30:31,100 --> 01:30:33,666 {\an1}But he had otherplans for me 1687 01:30:33,700 --> 01:30:36,033 {\an1}in paint and varnish chemistry, 1688 01:30:36,066 --> 01:30:40,266 {\an1}new paint to prevent icing on airplane propellers, 1689 01:30:40,300 --> 01:30:42,566 new shortenings that didn't spatter. 1690 01:30:42,600 --> 01:30:46,466 SMITH: I think the steroid work that Julian was doing 1691 01:30:46,500 --> 01:30:48,766 {\an7}was just one of those little businesses 1692 01:30:48,800 --> 01:30:53,366 {\an7}that no longer were seen as important to the company 1693 01:30:53,400 --> 01:30:55,866 {\an1}and its future direction. 1694 01:30:57,600 --> 01:30:59,700 {\an1}They sent me to Europe, 1695 01:30:59,733 --> 01:31:02,866 for a vacation, to forget about it. 1696 01:31:05,000 --> 01:31:07,700 And, on my return, the chairman announced that Glidden 1697 01:31:07,733 --> 01:31:10,766 {\an1}was going out of the steroid business altogether. 1698 01:31:10,800 --> 01:31:14,266 PRINTY: This was a blow to the heart of Doc. 1699 01:31:14,300 --> 01:31:17,633 {\an1}And he said he didn't know 1700 01:31:17,666 --> 01:31:20,566 {\an1}whether he'd be able to stand that, 1701 01:31:20,600 --> 01:31:22,500 {\an7}because if there was no steroid research, 1702 01:31:22,533 --> 01:31:26,733 {\an7}there was nothing that he could really interest himself in. 1703 01:31:26,766 --> 01:31:31,933 VANCE: Joyce licensed Compound S to Pfizer and Syntex 1704 01:31:31,966 --> 01:31:34,633 and ordered Julian to teach their chemists 1705 01:31:34,666 --> 01:31:38,966 {\an1}how to use the process he'd invented. 1706 01:31:39,000 --> 01:31:42,466 {\an1}And things kept getting worse and worse and worse, 1707 01:31:42,500 --> 01:31:45,566 {\an1}until finally it just became untenable for him. 1708 01:31:47,666 --> 01:31:53,200 VANCE: In late 1953, Percy Julian walked away from the job 1709 01:31:53,233 --> 01:31:57,866 {\an1}into which he'd put the most productive years of his life. 1710 01:31:57,900 --> 01:32:00,400 JULIAN: And when I left Glidden, 1711 01:32:00,433 --> 01:32:05,933 {\an1}I left behind 109 patents, 1712 01:32:05,966 --> 01:32:11,800 {\an1}for which I received $109 and other valuable considerations. 1713 01:32:11,833 --> 01:32:13,933 (light laughter) 1714 01:32:13,966 --> 01:32:18,533 VANCE: One of those patents was for Compound S. 1715 01:32:18,566 --> 01:32:20,300 {\an1}Just as Julian predicted, 1716 01:32:20,333 --> 01:32:22,433 {\an1}it went on to become a key ingredient 1717 01:32:22,466 --> 01:32:24,033 {\an1}in the production of cortisone, 1718 01:32:24,066 --> 01:32:27,733 {\an1}helping to make the drug available to millions 1719 01:32:27,766 --> 01:32:29,400 {\an1}at a reasonable price. 1720 01:32:29,433 --> 01:32:32,700 PETSKO: The fact that Julian could do what he did, 1721 01:32:32,733 --> 01:32:34,366 while working in a paint company, 1722 01:32:34,400 --> 01:32:36,633 {\an1}strikes me as just remarkable. 1723 01:32:36,666 --> 01:32:41,000 {\an1}He didn't just do these things because glory would be his 1724 01:32:41,033 --> 01:32:42,733 if he succeeded. 1725 01:32:42,766 --> 01:32:45,533 There always is, in Julian's work, 1726 01:32:45,566 --> 01:32:47,800 {\an1}this sense of aiming for something big, 1727 01:32:47,833 --> 01:32:49,733 {\an1}because it's going to be useful for people. 1728 01:32:49,766 --> 01:32:53,200 VANCE: But to fulfill his ambition, 1729 01:32:53,233 --> 01:32:55,433 {\an1}Julian would now have to reinvent himself 1730 01:32:55,466 --> 01:32:57,166 as a businessman 1731 01:32:57,200 --> 01:33:01,000 {\an1}in one of the most cutthroat industries in America. 1732 01:33:03,533 --> 01:33:07,400 {\an1}Within a few months, Julian was back on his feet 1733 01:33:07,433 --> 01:33:09,666 {\an1}as president of his own chemical company 1734 01:33:09,700 --> 01:33:12,866 {\an1}in Franklin Park, outside Chicago. 1735 01:33:12,900 --> 01:33:14,933 PRINTY:We had left the Glidden Company 1736 01:33:14,966 --> 01:33:19,266 {\an1}and moved out to this place that was loaded with rats 1737 01:33:19,300 --> 01:33:20,733 {\an1}and mice and everything else. 1738 01:33:20,766 --> 01:33:24,500 {\an1}You couldn't eat your lunch without a mouse coming out. 1739 01:33:24,533 --> 01:33:26,466 WALTON: Working conditions, 1740 01:33:26,500 --> 01:33:28,566 {\an1}I guess, would be considered primitive. 1741 01:33:28,600 --> 01:33:33,666 VANCE: But for Julian it was the chance of a lifetime. 1742 01:33:33,700 --> 01:33:37,200 {\an1}After 18 years at Glidden, he was his own boss, 1743 01:33:37,233 --> 01:33:41,000 {\an1}free to focus on work that excited him. 1744 01:33:41,033 --> 01:33:43,266 {\an1}His plan for success was simple: 1745 01:33:43,300 --> 01:33:47,266 {\an1}Julian Laboratories would make steroid intermediates, 1746 01:33:47,300 --> 01:33:50,333 {\an1}compounds that were often just one step short 1747 01:33:50,366 --> 01:33:52,366 {\an1}of a finished product. 1748 01:33:52,400 --> 01:33:55,300 {\an1}The big pharmaceutical companies would buy them, 1749 01:33:55,333 --> 01:33:58,233 {\an1}because Julian could make them faster and cheaper 1750 01:33:58,266 --> 01:33:59,666 than they could. 1751 01:33:59,700 --> 01:34:03,000 From his old friends at Upjohn, 1752 01:34:03,033 --> 01:34:04,800 Julian quickly landed a contract 1753 01:34:04,833 --> 01:34:08,066 {\an1}for $2 million worth of progesterone. 1754 01:34:08,100 --> 01:34:13,633 {\an1}More business followed fromCiba, Pfizer, Merck and others. 1755 01:34:13,666 --> 01:34:16,533 {\an1}There was just one obstacle: 1756 01:34:16,566 --> 01:34:19,133 {\an1}Syntex, the Mexican company 1757 01:34:19,166 --> 01:34:21,733 {\an1}that now dominated the hormone business. 1758 01:34:21,766 --> 01:34:25,333 {\an1}Syntex controlled the supply of the Mexican yam, 1759 01:34:25,366 --> 01:34:27,566 {\an1}or barbasco root. 1760 01:34:27,600 --> 01:34:29,366 {\an1}Julian needed an extract 1761 01:34:29,400 --> 01:34:32,200 {\an1}from the root to make his intermediates cheaply, 1762 01:34:32,233 --> 01:34:35,266 {\an1}but Syntex refused to sell him any. 1763 01:34:35,300 --> 01:34:37,700 It was a setback that threatened the company. 1764 01:34:37,733 --> 01:34:40,266 WALTON: Having put it all 1765 01:34:40,300 --> 01:34:45,266 {\an7}on the line with these major pharmaceutical companies, 1766 01:34:45,300 --> 01:34:47,966 {\an7}he had to deliver the goods, had to. 1767 01:34:48,000 --> 01:34:51,100 VANCE: To get around Syntex, 1768 01:34:51,133 --> 01:34:53,500 {\an1}Julian would have to build his own 1769 01:34:53,533 --> 01:34:58,300 {\an1}$300,000 barbasco processing plant in Mexico. 1770 01:34:58,333 --> 01:35:01,666 {\an1}Dr. Julian didn't have the necessary capital himself. 1771 01:35:01,700 --> 01:35:05,633 {\an1}The conventional, normal banking sources 1772 01:35:05,666 --> 01:35:10,133 {\an1}were off limits to people of color, period. 1773 01:35:10,166 --> 01:35:14,600 VANCE: Using personal savings and money from friends 1774 01:35:14,633 --> 01:35:19,366 {\an1}and private investors, Julian was able to build the plant. 1775 01:35:19,400 --> 01:35:20,966 {\an1}But then, another roadblock: 1776 01:35:21,000 --> 01:35:24,800 {\an1}the Mexican government, closely tied to Syntex, 1777 01:35:24,833 --> 01:35:28,533 {\an1}refused him a permit to harvest the barbasco root. 1778 01:35:28,566 --> 01:35:33,333 {\an1}His expensive Mexican factory was useless. 1779 01:35:33,366 --> 01:35:36,766 JULIAN: And there we stood, with our beautiful plant, 1780 01:35:36,800 --> 01:35:39,633 our beautifully lighted water tower 1781 01:35:39,666 --> 01:35:42,466 {\an1}with "Laboratorios de Julian de Mexico" 1782 01:35:42,500 --> 01:35:44,000 {\an1}emblazoned on it... 1783 01:35:44,033 --> 01:35:47,566 a mausoleum. 1784 01:35:47,600 --> 01:35:51,100 I sat in a hotel in Mexico City 1785 01:35:51,133 --> 01:35:56,066 {\an1}wondering whether I should shoot my brains out. 1786 01:35:56,100 --> 01:35:58,200 WALTON: There was enormous pressure on Dr. Julian, 1787 01:35:58,233 --> 01:36:01,233 {\an1}because the financial stakes were huge... 1788 01:36:01,266 --> 01:36:03,233 were huge. 1789 01:36:03,266 --> 01:36:05,033 {\an1}He had everything invested, 1790 01:36:05,066 --> 01:36:08,066 {\an1}between Franklin Park and Mexico, 1791 01:36:08,100 --> 01:36:11,766 {\an1}and so this was a pressure, pressure time. 1792 01:36:11,800 --> 01:36:13,900 And then a strange thing happened. 1793 01:36:13,933 --> 01:36:17,733 {\an1}There was a knock on the door, and in came a man named 1794 01:36:17,766 --> 01:36:21,100 Abraham Zlotnik, 1795 01:36:21,133 --> 01:36:23,666 {\an1}a man that I had helped out of Hitler's Germany. 1796 01:36:23,700 --> 01:36:26,400 {\an1}Abe said he was sure the yam grew in Guatemala, 1797 01:36:26,433 --> 01:36:30,100 {\an1}and he volunteered to make an expedition for me. 1798 01:36:30,133 --> 01:36:33,200 {\an1}I told him I was broke, ruined. 1799 01:36:33,233 --> 01:36:36,633 {\an1}I didn't know when I could pay him back. 1800 01:36:36,666 --> 01:36:39,800 {\an1}But he said, "You've already paid me back." 1801 01:36:41,500 --> 01:36:45,400 VANCE:Zlotnik was as good as his word. 1802 01:36:45,433 --> 01:36:49,266 {\an1}His expedition found the barbasco root in Guatemala. 1803 01:36:49,300 --> 01:36:53,866 {\an1}Julian now had the raw material he needed to achieve his goal: 1804 01:36:53,900 --> 01:36:59,066 {\an1}making steroid drugs available to all who needed them. 1805 01:36:59,100 --> 01:37:03,233 LETTON: He always talked about being able to lower the cost 1806 01:37:03,266 --> 01:37:05,666 of some of these anti-inflammatory agents, 1807 01:37:05,700 --> 01:37:09,033 {\an1}these steroids, so that the common man could buy them. 1808 01:37:09,066 --> 01:37:13,466 VANCE: Even if it meant lower profits for Julian Laboratories. 1809 01:37:13,500 --> 01:37:15,300 {\an1}One year, his chemists 1810 01:37:15,333 --> 01:37:19,233 {\an1}found a way to quadruplethe yield on a product on which 1811 01:37:19,266 --> 01:37:21,733 {\an1}they were barely breaking even. 1812 01:37:21,766 --> 01:37:24,433 LETTON: I thought, personally, that that was a good opportunity 1813 01:37:24,466 --> 01:37:27,900 {\an1}to recover some profits from the low yields 1814 01:37:27,933 --> 01:37:29,433 {\an1}of the previous year. 1815 01:37:29,466 --> 01:37:31,533 {\an1}Instead, he dropped 1816 01:37:31,566 --> 01:37:34,733 {\an1}the price of this stuff from $4,000 a kilo 1817 01:37:34,766 --> 01:37:37,766 {\an7}down to about $400 a kilo. 1818 01:37:37,800 --> 01:37:40,933 {\an7}And I couldn't understand why he would do that. 1819 01:37:40,966 --> 01:37:44,200 {\an1}He wanted to make money, but he also wanted things 1820 01:37:44,233 --> 01:37:46,500 {\an1}to be available for people. 1821 01:37:46,533 --> 01:37:51,033 VANCE: Much of Julian's own money was still tied up 1822 01:37:51,066 --> 01:37:53,400 {\an1}in his idle Mexican plant. 1823 01:37:53,433 --> 01:37:55,400 {\an1}To make good on that investment, 1824 01:37:55,433 --> 01:37:58,000 {\an1}he would have to resolve some unfinished business 1825 01:37:58,033 --> 01:38:00,166 {\an1}with an old rival. 1826 01:38:02,666 --> 01:38:04,900 Would Dr. Percy Julian come forward? 1827 01:38:04,933 --> 01:38:09,333 VANCE: Julian believed Syntex had used its influence 1828 01:38:09,366 --> 01:38:12,966 {\an1}with the Mexican government to keep his factory from opening. 1829 01:38:13,000 --> 01:38:16,233 {\an1}After other American companies made similar charges, 1830 01:38:16,266 --> 01:38:19,833 {\an1}the Senate held public hearings in 1956. 1831 01:38:19,866 --> 01:38:22,200 {\an1}Julian was the star witness. 1832 01:38:23,166 --> 01:38:25,566 {\an3}MAN: Was there any company in Mexico 1833 01:38:25,600 --> 01:38:27,033 objecting to your getting a permit? 1834 01:38:27,066 --> 01:38:28,366 JULIAN: It became very evident 1835 01:38:28,400 --> 01:38:30,900 {\an1}that the Syntex Company was objecting to the permit. 1836 01:38:30,933 --> 01:38:32,666 {\an1}In fact,Dr. Somlo told me 1837 01:38:32,700 --> 01:38:34,166 {\an1}he would fightto the last 1838 01:38:34,200 --> 01:38:37,666 {\an1}to keep me and anyone else out of Mexico. 1839 01:38:39,433 --> 01:38:42,466 VANCE: As a result of the "wonder drug" hearings, 1840 01:38:42,500 --> 01:38:45,966 {\an1}the Justice Department took action against Syntex. 1841 01:38:47,100 --> 01:38:50,533 {\an1}Julian was finally able to open his Mexican plant, 1842 01:38:50,566 --> 01:38:53,033 {\an1}but the mounting pressures of running a business 1843 01:38:53,066 --> 01:38:56,933 {\an1}left him little time to savor the hard-won victory. 1844 01:38:56,966 --> 01:38:59,466 Every month there were shipments to make 1845 01:38:59,500 --> 01:39:03,733 {\an1}and severe financial penalties for missed deadlines. 1846 01:39:03,766 --> 01:39:07,066 WALTON: We lived, for the most part, 1847 01:39:07,100 --> 01:39:08,933 {\an1}in a highly stressed, 1848 01:39:08,966 --> 01:39:12,066 {\an1}very competitive environment-- 1849 01:39:12,100 --> 01:39:15,400 a small company, limited resources, 1850 01:39:15,433 --> 01:39:18,533 and dealing with a huge industry. 1851 01:39:18,566 --> 01:39:21,133 EARL DAILEY:There were many occasions where 2:00, 3:00 1852 01:39:21,166 --> 01:39:22,500 {\an7}in the morning would come, 1853 01:39:22,533 --> 01:39:26,500 {\an7}and you'd still be in the laboratory working. 1854 01:39:26,533 --> 01:39:28,966 {\an8}WALTON: When I complained about the lack of sleep, 1855 01:39:29,000 --> 01:39:32,266 {\an7}Dr. Julian advised me that sleep could be dangerous 1856 01:39:32,300 --> 01:39:33,766 {\an8}for my health. 1857 01:39:33,800 --> 01:39:36,300 {\an7}I could die in my sleep. 1858 01:39:36,333 --> 01:39:37,866 {\an1}"And while you're contemplating that, 1859 01:39:37,900 --> 01:39:40,600 {\an1}"go back out in the plant and continue to work. 1860 01:39:40,633 --> 01:39:42,266 {\an1}We have a shipment to get out." 1861 01:39:42,300 --> 01:39:46,300 LETTON: But there was an unusual sense of loyalty 1862 01:39:46,333 --> 01:39:48,966 {\an1}that made people work and want to see him 1863 01:39:49,000 --> 01:39:51,433 {\an1}and the company successful. 1864 01:39:51,466 --> 01:39:56,066 {\an1}How else could you get a crew to work 24 hours a day? 1865 01:39:56,100 --> 01:39:57,300 (laughing): That sort of thing. 1866 01:39:57,333 --> 01:39:59,566 VANCE: And successful it was. 1867 01:39:59,600 --> 01:40:02,333 {\an1}Julian Laboratories would eventually make its founder 1868 01:40:02,366 --> 01:40:04,133 a millionaire, 1869 01:40:04,166 --> 01:40:08,166 {\an1}one of the wealthiest Black businessmen in America. 1870 01:40:08,200 --> 01:40:09,500 ♪ 1871 01:40:09,533 --> 01:40:12,200 {\an1}For his chemists, the reward was an opportunity 1872 01:40:12,233 --> 01:40:14,166 {\an1}hard to find anywhere else: 1873 01:40:14,200 --> 01:40:17,666 a chance to work in their chosen field. 1874 01:40:17,700 --> 01:40:19,800 LETTON: When I was looking for a job, 1875 01:40:19,833 --> 01:40:22,233 {\an1}some people made excuses, and then there were some 1876 01:40:22,266 --> 01:40:23,966 that just said, "We don't hire you people." 1877 01:40:24,000 --> 01:40:28,766 TOM WEST: They told me that I was too well qualified 1878 01:40:28,800 --> 01:40:30,166 to take a job. 1879 01:40:30,200 --> 01:40:32,066 {\an1}I felt that they were saying, 1880 01:40:32,100 --> 01:40:33,866 {\an7}"Come back maybe another time. 1881 01:40:33,900 --> 01:40:35,933 {\an7}Come back when you're white." 1882 01:40:37,533 --> 01:40:39,400 {\an8}♪ 1883 01:40:39,433 --> 01:40:43,133 VANCE: Scores of chemists, unwelcome elsewhere, 1884 01:40:43,166 --> 01:40:45,833 {\an1}would use their years with Julian as a springboard 1885 01:40:45,866 --> 01:40:49,466 {\an1}to careers in industry and academia. 1886 01:40:49,500 --> 01:40:53,866 WALTON: I'm proud to say that our laboratories in Franklin Park 1887 01:40:53,900 --> 01:40:55,833 {\an1}employed more Black chemists 1888 01:40:55,866 --> 01:40:58,066 {\an1}than any other facility in America. 1889 01:40:58,100 --> 01:41:00,166 {\an1}On the other hand, 1890 01:41:00,200 --> 01:41:02,400 {\an1}for such a small organization 1891 01:41:02,433 --> 01:41:05,766 {\an1}to have such a significant role 1892 01:41:05,800 --> 01:41:07,666 {\an1}in true integration 1893 01:41:07,700 --> 01:41:12,300 {\an1}it's a sad commentary on the state of affairs in America. 1894 01:41:14,766 --> 01:41:16,400 VANCE: Outside Julian's lab, 1895 01:41:16,433 --> 01:41:18,800 {\an1}America was still a nation divided by race, 1896 01:41:18,833 --> 01:41:24,066 {\an1}and Julian was constantly reminded of it... 1897 01:41:24,100 --> 01:41:27,866 {\an1}...even at meetings of the American Chemical Society. 1898 01:41:27,900 --> 01:41:29,533 EDWARD MEYER: When we went to the meeting, 1899 01:41:29,566 --> 01:41:33,200 {\an1}he said, "Ed, grab me by the arm when we go in, 1900 01:41:33,233 --> 01:41:36,133 {\an1}so people will know that we're together." 1901 01:41:36,166 --> 01:41:38,133 {\an1}Because he was afraid they'd... 1902 01:41:38,166 --> 01:41:41,033 {\an7}being a Black man, they'd throw him out. 1903 01:41:41,066 --> 01:41:46,000 VANCE: Neither wealth nor fame could insulate Julian from bigotry. 1904 01:41:46,033 --> 01:41:50,200 But with success came the chance to do something about it. 1905 01:41:50,233 --> 01:41:53,533 Increasingly, he set aside his science 1906 01:41:53,566 --> 01:41:55,500 {\an1}to fight for racial equality. 1907 01:41:55,533 --> 01:41:59,266 {\an1}He joined the NAACP and the Urban League 1908 01:41:59,300 --> 01:42:01,433 in their battle against discrimination 1909 01:42:01,466 --> 01:42:04,100 {\an1}in jobs and housing. 1910 01:42:04,133 --> 01:42:07,166 {\an1}He led a national fundraising campaign 1911 01:42:07,200 --> 01:42:10,000 {\an1}to support civil rights lawyers. 1912 01:42:10,033 --> 01:42:13,633 {\an7}And in speech after speech, he preached that education 1913 01:42:13,666 --> 01:42:17,366 {\an7}and the pursuit of excellence--the hallmarks of his own life-- 1914 01:42:17,400 --> 01:42:21,133 were the key to Black advancement. 1915 01:42:22,100 --> 01:42:24,200 But many younger African-Americans 1916 01:42:24,233 --> 01:42:27,300 were impatient with traditional tactics 1917 01:42:27,333 --> 01:42:31,766 {\an1}and rejected the sermons of Julian's generation. 1918 01:42:31,800 --> 01:42:35,700 JULIAN: Our children and our grandchildren saw all of this 1919 01:42:35,733 --> 01:42:39,033 and suffered for their ofttimes "Uncle Tom" parents 1920 01:42:39,066 --> 01:42:42,900 who seemed to be doing nothing about it. 1921 01:42:42,933 --> 01:42:46,933 {\an1}Finally, their pent-up agony exploded on us. 1922 01:42:46,966 --> 01:42:49,100 (shouting) 1923 01:42:49,133 --> 01:42:50,966 JULIAN, JR.: I would say, 1924 01:42:51,000 --> 01:42:52,800 {\an1}"Explain this to me. 1925 01:42:52,833 --> 01:42:56,466 {\an1}How is it that this is all going to change?" 1926 01:42:57,833 --> 01:42:59,433 {\an1}He would say, "Well, it will. 1927 01:42:59,466 --> 01:43:02,066 {\an1}"There are lawyers, and they're going to fight for change. 1928 01:43:02,100 --> 01:43:07,166 {\an1}And if you set an example, things will change." 1929 01:43:07,200 --> 01:43:08,933 Well, uh... 1930 01:43:08,966 --> 01:43:11,700 {\an1}I don't have forever. 1931 01:43:13,466 --> 01:43:16,833 VANCE: In the 1960s, Julian's son drove to Nashville 1932 01:43:16,866 --> 01:43:19,466 {\an1}to join the effort to desegregate 1933 01:43:19,500 --> 01:43:20,966 {\an1}the city's lunch counters. 1934 01:43:21,000 --> 01:43:22,233 ♪ 1935 01:43:22,266 --> 01:43:25,300 (shouting) 1936 01:43:25,333 --> 01:43:26,833 JULIAN, JR.: On the one hand, 1937 01:43:26,866 --> 01:43:28,733 {\an1}he was very proud, 1938 01:43:28,766 --> 01:43:31,466 {\an1}but on the other, he was very scared. 1939 01:43:31,500 --> 01:43:33,800 {\an1}One time he said to me, "You know, 1940 01:43:33,833 --> 01:43:36,200 {\an7}"this is not a game. 1941 01:43:36,233 --> 01:43:40,200 {\an8}These people are playing for real." 1942 01:43:40,233 --> 01:43:43,233 {\an1}And my response was, "So are we." 1943 01:43:43,266 --> 01:43:45,533 ♪ 1944 01:43:45,566 --> 01:43:48,700 VANCE: The '60s were an awakening for Julian. 1945 01:43:48,733 --> 01:43:52,066 {\an1}He came to see that the nation could not afford 1946 01:43:52,100 --> 01:43:55,133 {\an1}to wait for the old ways to work. 1947 01:43:56,433 --> 01:44:00,133 JULIAN: For more than a century, since the end of slavery, 1948 01:44:00,166 --> 01:44:02,566 {\an1}we have watched the denial 1949 01:44:02,600 --> 01:44:05,466 {\an1}of elemental liberty to millions of Black people 1950 01:44:05,500 --> 01:44:07,066 {\an1}in our southland. 1951 01:44:07,100 --> 01:44:10,933 JULIAN, JR.: I think he saw that things 1952 01:44:10,966 --> 01:44:13,833 {\an1}were moving so fast, 1953 01:44:13,866 --> 01:44:15,266 {\an1}that if the country didn't change, 1954 01:44:15,300 --> 01:44:19,533 {\an1}there was going to be serious, serious trouble. 1955 01:44:21,733 --> 01:44:23,633 VANCE: By the late 1960s, 1956 01:44:23,666 --> 01:44:27,200 {\an1}Julian had come to supportthe more confrontational tactics 1957 01:44:27,233 --> 01:44:29,800 {\an1}of his son's generation. 1958 01:44:29,833 --> 01:44:32,000 JULIAN, JR.: My father wrote, later, 1959 01:44:32,033 --> 01:44:36,033 {\an1}it wasn't going to be enough just to be a model citizen, 1960 01:44:36,066 --> 01:44:38,700 to be educated, 1961 01:44:38,733 --> 01:44:40,033 {\an1}to do all the things 1962 01:44:40,066 --> 01:44:44,433 {\an1}that anybody could possibly expect of you, 1963 01:44:44,466 --> 01:44:48,866 {\an1}because none of that would ever change the fact 1964 01:44:48,900 --> 01:44:51,800 {\an1}that you still couldn't go and eat 1965 01:44:51,833 --> 01:44:55,066 in a restaurant that didn't want to serve you. 1966 01:44:55,100 --> 01:44:57,733 JULIAN: Branded, first, unfit to spend their money 1967 01:44:57,766 --> 01:45:00,633 {\an1}for food or drink in public places 1968 01:45:00,666 --> 01:45:02,700 {\an1}along with other Americans; 1969 01:45:02,733 --> 01:45:06,200 {\an1}denied the ballot and confined to ghettoes 1970 01:45:06,233 --> 01:45:08,866 {\an1}that stifled hope and ambition; 1971 01:45:08,900 --> 01:45:11,866 {\an1}victims of murder of the mind... 1972 01:45:13,766 --> 01:45:16,833 ...heart... 1973 01:45:16,866 --> 01:45:20,333 and spirit. 1974 01:45:22,133 --> 01:45:25,000 {\an1}This is the story of the American Negro. 1975 01:45:29,566 --> 01:45:31,766 ♪ 1976 01:45:31,800 --> 01:45:35,866 VANCE: Percy Julian's own story now entered its final chapter. 1977 01:45:35,900 --> 01:45:39,700 Born in 1899, he was now in his 70s 1978 01:45:39,733 --> 01:45:42,133 {\an1}and a proud grandfather. 1979 01:45:42,166 --> 01:45:45,666 {\an1}KATHERINE JULIAN, M.D.: I definitely was awarethat my grandfather was special. 1980 01:45:45,700 --> 01:45:47,966 {\an1}I remember playing with a doll 1981 01:45:48,000 --> 01:45:50,533 {\an1}that had been sent to him by a woman, 1982 01:45:50,566 --> 01:45:53,300 {\an1}and the story was told to me why it had been sent. 1983 01:45:53,333 --> 01:45:57,200 {\an1}She had such bad arthritisthat she couldn't use her hands. 1984 01:45:57,233 --> 01:45:59,233 {\an7}And after using cortisone, she was able 1985 01:45:59,266 --> 01:46:01,466 {\an7}to knit this doll and send it to him. 1986 01:46:01,500 --> 01:46:04,000 {\an7}And I remember holding the doll and playing with the doll 1987 01:46:04,033 --> 01:46:06,266 and realizing that he had helped her, 1988 01:46:06,300 --> 01:46:09,100 {\an1}and that that was something that was really special. 1989 01:46:09,133 --> 01:46:11,733 VANCE: For his contributions to humanity, 1990 01:46:11,766 --> 01:46:14,800 Julian received 18 honorary degrees 1991 01:46:14,833 --> 01:46:19,233 {\an1}and more than a dozen civic and scientific awards. 1992 01:46:19,266 --> 01:46:23,900 {\an7}There was hardly any collegethat didn't try to honor itself 1993 01:46:23,933 --> 01:46:27,400 {\an7}by naming Percy Julian as an honorary Ph.D., 1994 01:46:27,433 --> 01:46:30,533 {\an1}because that was the time when people tried 1995 01:46:30,566 --> 01:46:33,233 {\an1}to make up for past injustice. 1996 01:46:33,266 --> 01:46:37,500 VANCE: Julian's longtime friend Bernhard Witkop 1997 01:46:37,533 --> 01:46:40,000 {\an1}envisioned a higher honor. 1998 01:46:40,033 --> 01:46:42,966 {\an1}He secretly began a campaign to elect Julian 1999 01:46:43,000 --> 01:46:47,000 {\an1}to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. 2000 01:46:47,033 --> 01:46:50,066 {\an1}It was an uphill battle. 2001 01:46:50,100 --> 01:46:55,066 {\an1}We had some prejudicial talk in the Academy, by old timers. 2002 01:46:55,100 --> 01:46:58,666 {\an1}Some were very famous people and Nobel Laureates 2003 01:46:58,700 --> 01:47:02,700 {\an1}who couldn't get used to the new situation. 2004 01:47:02,733 --> 01:47:05,266 VANCE: Witkop persisted, 2005 01:47:05,300 --> 01:47:09,666 {\an1}and in 1973, Julian received an unexpected phone call 2006 01:47:09,700 --> 01:47:12,333 {\an1}from the Academy's home secretary. 2007 01:47:12,366 --> 01:47:14,433 WITKOP:He said, "Sir, may I inform you 2008 01:47:14,466 --> 01:47:16,400 "that you have just been elected 2009 01:47:16,433 --> 01:47:18,266 "a member of the National Academy. 2010 01:47:18,300 --> 01:47:20,466 {\an1}Congratulations." 2011 01:47:22,266 --> 01:47:26,100 VANCE: Julian was only the secondAfrican-American to be elected. 2012 01:47:26,133 --> 01:47:28,633 It was the crowning recognition 2013 01:47:28,666 --> 01:47:33,000 of 40 years of chemical research. 2014 01:47:33,033 --> 01:47:36,066 HEINDEL: If you look at Percy Julian's career, 2015 01:47:36,100 --> 01:47:39,133 {\an1}you can say if this man had not been Black, 2016 01:47:39,166 --> 01:47:41,800 {\an1}he could have been a chaired professor 2017 01:47:41,833 --> 01:47:44,333 at any Ivy or Big Ten institution. 2018 01:47:44,366 --> 01:47:47,700 The breadth of his understanding of chemistry 2019 01:47:47,733 --> 01:47:53,366 {\an7}and his fire in the belly to produce so many results 2020 01:47:53,400 --> 01:47:54,933 {\an7}in such a short period of time-- 2021 01:47:54,966 --> 01:47:58,666 {\an1}this is Nobel Laureate stuff. 2022 01:47:59,833 --> 01:48:05,500 ♪ 2023 01:48:05,533 --> 01:48:09,133 VANCE:Looking back in an autobiography he would never finish, 2024 01:48:09,166 --> 01:48:11,466 Julian offered his own assessment 2025 01:48:11,500 --> 01:48:14,000 {\an1}of his life in science. 2026 01:48:15,600 --> 01:48:18,700 JULIAN:I feel that my own good country 2027 01:48:18,733 --> 01:48:22,666 robbed me of the chance for some of the great experiences 2028 01:48:22,700 --> 01:48:26,033 {\an1}that I would have liked to live through. 2029 01:48:27,700 --> 01:48:30,600 {\an1}Instead, I took a job where I could get one 2030 01:48:30,633 --> 01:48:34,100 {\an1}and tried to make the best of it. 2031 01:48:34,133 --> 01:48:37,333 {\an1}I have been, perhaps, a good chemist, 2032 01:48:37,366 --> 01:48:41,866 {\an1}but not the chemist that I dreamed of being. 2033 01:48:43,133 --> 01:48:45,866 VANCE: In April 1975, 2034 01:48:45,900 --> 01:48:48,866 a week after his 76th birthday, 2035 01:48:48,900 --> 01:48:53,200 {\an1}Percy Julian died of cancer. 2036 01:48:54,133 --> 01:48:57,333 His pallbearers included the chemists 2037 01:48:57,366 --> 01:49:02,133 {\an1}who had been his friends and colleagues. 2038 01:49:05,500 --> 01:49:07,933 Every year, the U.S. Postal Service 2039 01:49:07,966 --> 01:49:09,733 {\an1}issues a commemorative stamp 2040 01:49:09,766 --> 01:49:13,100 to honor an African-American leader. 2041 01:49:13,133 --> 01:49:17,200 In 1993, the choice was Percy Julian. 2042 01:49:17,233 --> 01:49:20,566 PRINTY: As a human being, I think that he was 2043 01:49:20,600 --> 01:49:25,900 {\an1}a source of inspiration to many, many, many people. 2044 01:49:27,366 --> 01:49:31,233 VANCE: In 1999, the American Chemical Society 2045 01:49:31,266 --> 01:49:36,766 recognized Julian's synthesis ofthe glaucoma drug physostigmine 2046 01:49:36,800 --> 01:49:39,300 {\an1}as one of the top 25 achievements 2047 01:49:39,333 --> 01:49:42,133 in the history of American chemistry. 2048 01:49:42,166 --> 01:49:44,533 {\an1}The plaque is housed 2049 01:49:44,566 --> 01:49:48,100 {\an1}in the new Percy Julian Science Center at DePauw. 2050 01:49:48,133 --> 01:49:51,600 ROBINSON: For him to have accomplished what he did, 2051 01:49:51,633 --> 01:49:57,700 with the resources that he had, is still amazing. 2052 01:49:58,566 --> 01:50:00,666 VANCE: Across the world today, 2053 01:50:00,700 --> 01:50:04,600 {\an1}millions of people benefit from steroid medications 2054 01:50:04,633 --> 01:50:07,200 {\an1}based on the chemistry of plants. 2055 01:50:07,233 --> 01:50:11,233 {\an1}Some of these drugs are still made from soybeans, 2056 01:50:11,266 --> 01:50:16,500 {\an1}using chemical steps much like those Percy Julian pioneered. 2057 01:50:16,533 --> 01:50:20,000 PETSKO: Here was a man who not only had to overcome 2058 01:50:20,033 --> 01:50:23,433 {\an1}the disadvantages of his race, but who, 2059 01:50:23,466 --> 01:50:26,733 {\an1}throughout his entire life, was in a situation 2060 01:50:26,766 --> 01:50:29,433 {\an1}that was never ideal for doing the big things 2061 01:50:29,466 --> 01:50:32,300 {\an1}he was trying to do. 2062 01:50:32,333 --> 01:50:34,233 {\an1}Looking over his life, 2063 01:50:34,266 --> 01:50:37,433 {\an1}one has a sense that hereis a man of great determination. 2064 01:50:37,466 --> 01:50:40,066 {\an1}And it's a determination not just to succeed, 2065 01:50:40,100 --> 01:50:42,900 {\an1}but a determination to make a difference, 2066 01:50:42,933 --> 01:50:44,366 {\an1}to make a contribution. 2067 01:50:46,133 --> 01:50:48,166 ANDERSON: His story is really a contradictory one. 2068 01:50:48,200 --> 01:50:49,566 {\an1}It's two stories. 2069 01:50:49,600 --> 01:50:50,766 It is a story 2070 01:50:50,800 --> 01:50:53,000 {\an1}of great accomplishments, of heroic efforts 2071 01:50:53,033 --> 01:50:54,933 {\an1}and overcoming tremendous odds. 2072 01:50:54,966 --> 01:50:58,133 {\an1}But it's also a story of talent squandered, 2073 01:50:58,166 --> 01:51:00,433 {\an1}of potential stifled. 2074 01:51:00,466 --> 01:51:02,366 {\an1}It's a story about this country. 2075 01:51:02,400 --> 01:51:04,300 It's a story about who we are 2076 01:51:04,333 --> 01:51:05,866 {\an1}and what we stand for 2077 01:51:05,900 --> 01:51:08,400 {\an1}and the challenges that have been there 2078 01:51:08,433 --> 01:51:12,466 {\an1}and the challenges that are still with us. 2079 01:51:14,733 --> 01:51:19,433 ♪ 2080 01:51:44,866 --> 01:51:47,900 {\an8}♪ 2081 01:52:03,033 --> 01:52:12,466 {\an8}♪ 2082 01:52:19,700 --> 01:52:22,866 {\an8}♪