The Life and Science of Percy Julian: Main Narrative (Teacher
Version) 1. Developing an Early Love for Science: 18991916 Percy
Lavon Julian was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on 11 April 1899.
Although he was born on the cusp of the 20th century, the early
part of his life was shaped by the events of the 19th century.
He was African Americanthe grandson of slavesgrowing up at a
time when postCivil War Reconstruction (the attempt to give
African Americans political rights) was long past and Jim Crow
segregation was practiced in Alabama and most other parts of the
country. In fact, segregation had been ruled completely legal
just three years before Julian’s birth, in the U.S. Supreme
Court case Plessy v. Ferguson. Legal segregation was only one of
the obstacles faced by any ambitious African American. It was
reinforced by general attitudes that can only be described as
racist. Many white Americans believed that African Americans
were not smart enough to handle the “higher reasoning” required
to be a scientist, or