Anna Johnson Julian (November 24, 1903 – July 3, 1994) was the first African-American woman awarded a PhD in sociology by the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

(1937), a civic activist, and fourth national president of

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...

, a historically black

sorority Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...

. In the 1930s, Julian studied factors inhibiting children's education and taught sociology at the

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. UDC is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall ...

then known as Miner Teachers College. Her doctoral work was an analysis of the case records of 100 families receiving income support. She was married to prominent chemist,

Percy Lavon Julian Percy Lavon Julian (April 11, 1899 – April 19, 1975) was an American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He was the first to synthesize the natural product physostigmine and was a pioneer in ...

, from 1935 to his death in 1975, and had three children. The couple and their children faced down a violent and abusive campaign of intimidation when they moved into an upscale home in Oak Park, Chicago, with attacks on their home, including two fire bombings. The Julians founded the Chicago Chapter of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Julian was active in a range of civic arenas and faith-based organizations, including serving as chairman of the women's auxiliary of the

Chicago Urban League The Chicago Urban League, established in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, is an affiliate of the National Urban League that develops programs and partnerships and engages in advocacy to address the need for employment, entrepreneurship, affordable housin ...

and vice president of a national African-American women's civic organization. In 1963, she was appointed by the state governor to a Commission on Birth Control, which advised the state legislature on the issue of state-sponsored birth control for women receiving state aid. In the 1970s and 1980s, she was a board member of Rosary College (now Dominican University), retiring as president in 1985. Julian died in Oak Park at the age of 90, having received numerous honors, including honorary doctorates from three universities.

Early life and education

Anna Roselle Johnson was born on November 24, 1903 in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Her parents were Adelaide Scott Johnson and Charles Speare Johnson (a

chiropodist Podiatry () or podiatric medicine () is a branch of medicine devoted to the study, diagnosis, medical and surgical treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and leg. A Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM), or a podiatrist, is a healthcare ...

), and she was the fifth of their seven daughters. Johnson contracted

rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a streptococcal throat infection. Signs and symptoms include fever, multiple painful jo ...

as a young child, and was unable to start school until the third grade. At age 12, she moved to Philadelphia to live with her aunt and uncle so she could attend a racially integrated high school with higher academic standards than available in her home town,

West Philadelphia High School West Philadelphia High School is a secondary school located in the West Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the intersection of 49th Street and Chestnut Street. History The original West Philadelphia High School (WPHS) building ...

In 1919, Johnson began studying for a Bachelor of Science in Education degree at the

, joining the sorority,

, later serving as its fourth national president from 1929 to 1931. During her tenure the sorority incorporated nationally. Johnson attained her bachelor's degree in 1923, and she entered the postgraduate program in sociology the next year. She earned her master's degree in sociology in 1925.

Career

In June 1925 Julian became a case worker for the Family Service Association in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, a private relief agency. In 1928 and 1929 she spent some time teaching in

Bordentown, New Jersey Bordentown is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 3,924. She also taught sociology at Miner Teachers College. In 1931, Julian enrolled in graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, continuing to work in DC as she pursued further study, attending classes in Philadelphia. She was awarded a Bloomfield Moore Fellowship, a fellowship for women planning to become teachers to undertake research. Julian passed a preliminary PhD examination in 1935. Her doctoral work involved studying the case records of 100 families receiving income support from the Family Service Association. She was awarded her PhD in 1937, the first African-American woman to earn a doctoral degree in sociology. Her dissertation was titled ''Standards of Relief: An Analysis of One Hundred Family Case Records''. In 1939, Julian left her job in DC to join her husband in Chicago, becoming a lifelong civic activist. The Julians established Julian Laboratories in 1953, and she worked as vice president and book-keeper of the enterprise while her children were young. The business was scientifically and commercially successful, specializing in synthesizing hormones in bulk. Previously, Percy Julian had pioneered the synthesis of

corticosteroid Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex of vertebrates, as well as the synthetic analogues of these hormones. Two main classes of corticosteroids, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, are involv ...

s among other scientific accomplishments. In 1963, Julian was appointed by the Illinois State Governor, Otto Kerner, to the Birth Control Commission, which reported to the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

in 1965. The Commission had 15 members, advising on the "legal, social and moral" aspects of state-sponsored birth control to women receiving state aid. Julian was an Illinois delegate to the 1970 White House Conference on Children. In the 1970s and 1980s, she served on the board of the Rosary College (now Dominican University), including two terms as chairman, retiring in 1985. Her other civic contributions included serving as Chairman of the Women's Division of the

, vice president of the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

in Chicago, a member of the women's board of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, and a member of the board of trustees of

MacMurray College MacMurray College was a private college in Jacksonville, Illinois. Its enrollment in fall 2015 was 570. Founded in 1846, the college closed in May 2020. History Although founded in 1846 by a group of Methodist clergymen as the Illinois Confer ...

and the Erikson Institute of Early Childhood Education. Julian was also treasurer, then vice president, o
Links Inc
an African-American organization dedicated to community welfare. Anna and Percy Julian founded the Chicago chapter of the

's Legal Defense and Educational Fund. She was also a member of the American Sociological Society (now

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...

) and the

American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 ...

Personal life

Anna was married to Robert Thompson when she met

. Racial barriers had prevented Percy Julian's appointment to a position at his alma mater,

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the G ...

, and elsewhere. Robert Thompson and Percy Julian worked together at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

, but Anna and Percy's affair in part led to both Thompson and Julian having to leave Howard in 1932. Percy and Anna married on December 24, 1935. Not yet financially established, Anna Julian continued to live and work in Washington, D.C. while pursuing her PhD in sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, while her husband took a position in Chicago. When they began to live together, she found, "Science can be a hard taskmaster. Dinner can be at seven or 11, as far as the true disciple of chemistry is concerned." Both of them were committed to similar goals and values, and were later described by newspapers as a "power couple". They had two children, Faith Roselle Julian and Percy Julian Jr (an attorney), and also raised Anna's nephew, Leon "Rhoddy" Ellis. In 1950, the couple bought a 15-room house in the upscale, white neighborhood Oak Park, Chicago, a community that "Ernest Hemingway, a native son, once referred to as the village of 'broad lawns and narrow minds'." The couple and their children faced a sustained, violent campaign to stop them from living there. She later said: "We were pioneers facing the wilderness...only for us, it was a human wilderness – growing from bigotry." The town at first refused to switch the water on to the home, and the couple received threats. At the end of November, while the house and grounds were being prepared, someone doused the inside with gasoline and then threw a fire bomb inside, which exploded but fortunately failed to ignite the fumes. The house was placed under guard, but there was another bombing attempt the next June. While the Julian children were at home, dynamite was thrown from a car, but falling short of the house. The couple refused to be intimidated. Percy Julian said, “The right of a people to live where they want to, without fear, is more important than science.” Julian spent the rest of her life in the Oak Park home, and lived to see her husband honored locally with a junior high school named after him in 1985. She died in an Oak Park hospital on July 3, 1994.

Honors and awards

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

, University of Pennsylvania. * Rita Johnson Humanitarian Award from the Family Service & Mental Health Center of Oak Park and River Forest. * The Julians were cited the Chicago Chapter of the

Legal Defense and Educational Fund for their contributions to justice (1973). * Honorary doctorates from

(1987),

Rosary College Dominican University (DU) is a private Roman Catholic university in River Forest, Illinois, affiliated with the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters. It offers bachelor's and master's degrees, certificate programs, and a PhD in information studies. Do ...

(1993), and

(1994). * 2006 Exhibition, "From Dreams to Determination: The Legacy of Drs Percy and Anna Julian", DuSable Museum of African-American History.

External links

Photos
of Anna Johnson Julian at the dedication of the Julian Science and Mathematics Center at DePauw University in 1980 and the Percy Julian Junior High School in 1985.

PBS documentary and associated materials about Percy Julian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Julian, Anna Johnson African-American women academics American women academics African-American academics 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics American sociologists American women sociologists 1903 births 1994 deaths University of Pennsylvania alumni Delta Sigma Theta members 20th-century African-American women Delta Sigma Theta presidents