14 years later, on August 30, 2018, I was back at Julian for another very special occasion. Over the course of this past summer 2018, a group, sponsored by the Oak Park Education Foundation, worked to create a mural at Julian Middle School in honor of the esteemed African-American chemist Dr. Percy Lavon Julian (#149 on my Illinois 200 list).
On August 30, in the midst of the 2nd week of a new school year, the mural was dedicated as part of a back-to-school celebration.
I became aware of the mural project back in May when I visited the Julian website. When I saw that people could donate money to support the project and have a personalized tile, I jumped at the chance. Julian was an extraordinarily significant part of my life, and I was eager to offer tribute to it on a tile, while supporting a project that gave current students an opportunity to express themselves in creating something meaningful.
So as a donor who helped support the project, I was pleased to have the chance to attend the mural dedication.
During the ceremony, the artists who worked on the mural, including the students, introduced themselves, and the OPRFHS art teacher who oversaw the project talked about the process of creating it. And their finished work is certainly a masterpiece.
The mural itself has circles evocative of chemical molecule structures interspersed with words that speak to Dr. Julian's experience: Learn, Achieve, Persist. Those words formed the basis for a poetic piece performed by students in Julian's Spoken Word Club, who shared about Dr. Julian's life experiences and their implications for society at large.
We then had the privilege of hearing from Dr. Julian's daughter, Faith--please see photo below.
I had heard her speak twice before at Julian, in 2002 when the current school building was dedicated, and then in 2007 when the PBS science program NOVA debuted its "Forgotten Genius" documentary on Dr. Julian. Faith shared about her father's life experiences, much of which I recognized from having watched the documentary. Throughout his life, racism kept rearing its ugly head, but Dr. Julian persevered in spite of the obstacles that kept seeking to obstruct his path. She referenced the words, "Take Heart. Go farther", which appear in the mural, and are from a poem, "The Seventh Fold", in which a person journeys up a mountain, but hesitates to go forward over the last part, not knowing what's beyond it, until he finally summons forth the encouragement he needs to advance.
In light of what he faced, she offered encouragement to current students to keep striving, even in the midst of obstacles, to accomplish great things, and to uphold the importance of integrity and strong moral character.
She talked about how naming a school for Dr. Julian really speaks to the American experience, that we would recognize and honor someone who overcame so much. Indeed, it's amazing to think that someone who faced such racism would find the means to persevere and overcome, achieving great accomplishments.
He truly is a great example for our community and our world to seek what is good. And what a fine way to give tribute to him with this mural, representing how his legacy continues to make an impact.
Indeed, it was a great day to be part of the Julian community. And I am proud to be Julian Middle School Class of 2005.
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| In the photo above, I am standing by Faith Julian. Below, I am posing by the part of the mural with the tiles containing photos or inscriptions that were for the donors. I am extending my right hand over the tile I had inscribed with these words: "Grateful for my time at Julian, 2002-2005. -Paul R." Thanks to those who were nearby who got my photos in these two pictures. The other two photos in this post are mine. |
P.S. You can read and/or view Faith Julian's speech here.
And you can go here to read a short piece of mine that was published in The Wednesday Journal in which I offer some thoughts on this dedication ceremony.
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