William Jacob Knox Jr.

William Jacob Knox Jr. (January 5, 1904 - July 9, 1995) was an American chemist at Columbia University in New York City and one of the African-American scientists and technicians on the Manhattan Project.

After the war, Knox became a research assistant at Eastman Kodak Company. Knox is credited as being "the man to consult about coating problems". As Knox ended his career in science, he became involved in activism and additional professional pursuits.

Early life and education

Knox was born on January 5, 1904, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, to William Jacob Knox Sr., a US postal worker, and Estella Briggs. William Sr. had a slave heritage as his grandfather, Elijah Knox, was an enslaved carpenter in Edenton, North Carolina. Elijah's eldest child was Harriet Jacobs, the author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. According to family tradition, William Jacob Sr. was given his middle name "in honor of his aunt Harriet and his uncle John S." The Knox family had a strong "tradition of upward mobility through education". During his time at Harvard, William faced persecution and fought racist discrimination. He was accepted into Harvard University's undergraduate program in 1921. He was told to report to the freshman housing once he arrived for the semester. Upon arriving, Knox was immediately ousted for being black and was forced to give up his room in the whites-only dormitories. William's brother Lawrence eventually joined him at Columbia University as a head research analyst for the Manhattan Project in New York City.

The project would be successful, as the United States developed the first atomic weapons in history and brought the end of World War II with the dropping of atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Knox's team researched and innovated the isolation of uranium isotopes using gaseous diffusion. The government compiled several influential and highly educated individuals in the atomic field at Columbia University. The university was awarded with the government's first federal contract to explore the use of atomic power for energy and weapons. Experiments at Columbia University indicated that "uranium might be used as an explosive that would liberate a million times as much energy per pound as any known explosive".

Knox held a position unprecedented at the time, being the only African-American scientist to be a supervisor in the Manhattan Project. Like many scientists involved in the Manhattan Project, Knox and his team were unaware of how vital their research was. The complex process of breaking apart uranium isotopes utilizing uranium hexafluoride was crucial to the development of the atomic bombs used to end war with Japan in 1945. Uranium-235 and plutonium-239 made up the composite core of the atomic weapons. Knox was a section leader in the Corrosion Section before leaving Columbia University at the end of the war.

Post-war activities Eastman Kodak Company In 1945, Knox left his position on Columbia University's nuclear research team at the conclusion of World War II. Knox soon after became a research assistant at Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak) in Rochester, New York, from 1945 to 1970. Knox became the second African American PhD chemist to be hired by the company. Knox used his scientific skill set as a catalyst within the private industry sector. Twenty-one patents are recorded in Knox's name during his time with Kodak regarding the "application on surfactants in [the] photogenic process".

Continued teaching Following his departure from Kodak, William Knox returned to North Carolina A&T University, to teach chemistry, before permanently retiring in 1973.

Death William Jacob Knox died on July 9, 1995, after a battle with prostate cancer. The league, being a local chapter of the National Urban League, provides over 30 programs for individuals that are struggling in any aspect of life. The league also gives out scholarships to minority students, of which Knox was a donor for. Today, the Urban League of Rochester serves over 4,000 individuals. Knox, being a founding member of the Urban League of Rochester, showed that he not only fought against social injustice but also strove to better his community as well.