Anna Johnson Julian | |
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 Johnson in 1923 | |
| Born | Anna Roselle Johnson November 24, 1901 |
| Died | July 3, 1994 (aged 92) |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania |
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| Thesis | Standards of relief an analysis of one hundred family case records (1937) |
| Doctoral advisor | W. Rex Crawford |
Anna Johnson Julian, born Anna Roselle Johnson (November 24, 1903 – July 3, 1994) was the first African-American woman awarded a PhD in sociology by the University of Pennsylvania (1937), a civic activist, and fourth national president of Delta Sigma Theta, a historically black sorority. In the 1930s, Julian studied factors inhibiting children's education and taught sociology at the University of the District of Columbia 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, 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 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 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.