Oak Park is reviewing options to honor the life and achievements of famous Oak Park scientist Percy Julian, a Black chemist and entrepreneur known for synthesizing cortisone, hormones and other products from soybeans.
Julian registered more than 130 chemical patents in his career. His daughter, Faith, still lives in their home on East Avenue. She’s been trying to preserve the home, and started a GoFundMe campaign in September 2021 to protect it from a tax sale.
In February, Rep. Danny K. Davis announced that he’s introducing legislation to designate the home as a national historic site. But the Village of Oak Park has determined they need to do more to honor Julian’s legacy.
Options to honor historic figures include renaming streets or districts, creating historic markers and public art, implementing new spaces or facilities, designing landmarks, producing programs or hosing commemorative events.
For Julian, village staff had two main ideas: A “Dear Old Oak Parker” Walk of Fame star and a branded corridor around the Julian home.
“I know she [Faith] wants to see anything this board can get through for the memory of her dad and mom,” Trustee Chibuike Enyia said. “[Faith] is just very happy this is happening now.”
For recognition of historic figures, the funding would generally come from the applicant, said Brandon Crawford, the village’s deputy director of development services. The board can also allocate funding when desired, he said. It is not yet clear where the funding for a Julian project, if approved, would come from.
Walk of Fame star
A “Dear Old Oak Parker” is generally used to refer to residents who were born and grew up in Oak Park and then also started their own family here, Village President Vicki Scaman said. Crawford proposed the star for Julian be located around Scoville Park, near North Oak Park Avenue or on Lake Street, but it could be anywhere.
“Ideally this would be implemented in a place that would further activate the space, contribute to the vitality and vibrancy that we seek to see throughout the village,” Crawford said.
Enyia suggested the star have an accompanying QR code for residents and visitors to scan and learn about Julian’s legacy and achievements.
Trustee Brian Straw proposed the commemorative tile be something uniquely Oak Park, rather than a star, to showcase more about the community. Scaman agreed.
Branded corridor
The branded corridor would encompass streetscape improvements around Chicago Avenue and East Avenue. It could include custom pedestrian lighting, artistic crosswalks and banners. This corridor would be within the Chicago at Austin Business District, which Trustee Cory Wesley suggested also be renamed after Julian.
“I want all the things that you [Crawford] outlined for Percy Julian,” Wesley said. “This is well overdue so we should go well overboard.”
This is long overdue, he stressed, especially given the scope of Julian’s impact not just for the Oak Park community, but for everyone. His accomplishments in science and for women’s rights outweigh those of some other honorees in the village, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Wesley said.
“There is a credible train of thought that women’s birth control does not exist right now without Dr. Percy Julian,” he said.
Honoring Julian’s legacy is also another way to ensure all people feel welcome here, Wesley said. Some residents can already see themselves in figures like Wright and Ernest Hemingway. But others deserve representation, too.
“There are a lot, a lot of Black folks in Oak Park and they could see themselves in Dr. Percy Julian if we elevated him,” he said. “When we talk about building a welcoming and diverse and inclusive community, this is part of that: Seeing yourself in the community when you’re in the community.”
Straw said he especially liked the idea of designing artistic crosswalks because it would not only honor Julian but have an increased safety benefit as drivers slow down, intrigued by the design.
Another idea was to rename a street in honor of Julian. Scaman said she was concerned about doing this because the village could be flooded with requests to rename streets after historic figures, which would dilute the importance of it. Wesley and Enyia agreed naming a corridor after Julian holds more weight.
Julian home
While considering ways to honor Julian’s legacy, Enyia said, it’s important to not forget about the Julian home. The home has been under threat of tax sale for several years.
Earlier this year, Wednesday Journal reported that an anonymous donor paid off the home’s 2021 property taxes, in the amount of $31,496.90, including interest, to keep the home off the tax sale list temporarily. In February, Faith still owed $90,386.39, including interest, according to the Cook County Treasurer’s Office.
The house also needs numerous property improvements, including fixing the fence and roof, Enyia said, but it’s equally important to preserve and maintain the historical presence of the home.
Scaman agreed it’s essential to work with Julian family members to address the needs of the home. There’s a lot of community support for that, too, she said.
“We are also recognizing that it is somebody’s home and respect their wishes and participation in decision-making,” Scaman said.
Wesley also expressed a desire to get a historic plaque for the Julian home as quickly as possible and streamline other steps to honor Julian.
However the village board decides to memorialize Julian and his achievements, the decision will set a framework in place for honoring other Oak Park residents in the future. Relevant commissions and organizations would be included in this process as necessary, Crawford said.
It’s also important in future recognitions, Straw said, to ensure the person honored signifies the village’s values. Julian does, he said.
“Publicly memorializing the contributions of these distinguished and historic Oak Parkers is a unique opportunity to recognize and educate the world on our exceptional and shared heritage,” village officials wrote.
