Chemistry

Source:

 Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Second Edition

Chemistry

Field of science in which Africans and African Americans have made many contributions, from devising traditional medicines to participating in cutting-edge research.

Understanding the properties of substances and how to make practical use of them is the essence of chemistry—whether or not the study takes place in a formal laboratory. Today mainstream scientists are finally acknowledging the efficacy of so-called folk medicine and other formulations devised and used for centuries by traditional practitioners throughout the world, including Africans and African Americans. From early African folk practices to the “kitchen physick,” or household medicine, of American slaves to achievements in the modern fields of physical, organic, nuclear, and analytical chemistry, Africans and African Americans have a long history of innovation and discovery in chemistry.

The development of plant medicine in Africa indicates a strong understanding of natural chemistry. Many African cultures used natural versions of aspirin, kaolin (an effective cure for diarrhea), and herbal treatments for skin infections. Even before they were exposed to Western science and medicine, African doctors had discovered effective herbal remedies for several diseases; Zulu peoples alone had found medicinal applications for more than 700 plants.

Africans brought their scientific knowledge with them to America, and during the slavery period, several blacks emerged as experts in healing and medicine. In 1729 Lieutenant Governor William Gooch of Virginia described a slave who “performed many wonderful cures of diseases [with] … a concoction of roots and bark.”

Following the abolition of slavery, African Americans began to earn mainstream respect for their work in the laboratories of modern science. In the late nineteenth century George Washington Carver, the son of slaves, emerged as a pioneer in agricultural research. While working at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, organized by Booker Taliaferro Washington, Carver found dozens of uses for chemicals he extracted from peanuts and potatoes. His research led to the development of hundreds of products, including ink, shampoo, and peanut butter. Carver later became a vocal advocate of growing peanuts as a source of protein.

During the twentieth century, several African American chemists achieved renown for their important contributions. Lloyd A. Hall, former director, chief chemist, and president of the Griffith Chemical Company, discovered important food preservatives. Percy Lavon Julian, professor of organic chemistry at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and DePauw University in Indiana, developed an inexpensive way to remove and prepare soybean protein for use in such products as cortisone, a drug used to treat arthritis, and physostigmine, an extract used in the treatment of glaucoma. Julian registered more than 130 chemical patents during the course of his career.

Other major African American contributors to twentieth-century chemistry include physical chemist Warren Henry, who performed important research on superconductivity, magnetism, and small temperature changes in metal. Another leading chemist is Jane Wright, former director of the Cancer Research Foundation, who formulated several drugs and methods used in fighting cancer, including mithramycin, a drug that has proved promising in lab tests. William A. Lester, Jr., gained renown as a theoretical chemist whose research focused on the problems of high-velocity molecular collisions and who later was chosen to manage the National Resource for Computation in Chemistry. James A. Harris helped to discover two chemical elements, rutherfordium (atomic number 104, now called unnilquadium) and hahnium (atomic number 105, now called dubnium).

Since 1916, when St. Elmo Brady became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. degree in chemistry, blacks have played an increasingly important role in American chemistry laboratories and lecture halls, although there are still disproportionately fewer African Americans in chemistry than in other academic disciplines. The number of black chemists is slowly increasing, however; data indicate that African Americans compose nearly 4 percent of Ph.D. students in chemistry.

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