Crusading for chemistry

by Germaine M. Reed

Charles Holmes Herty (1867-1938) was born in Milledgeville, Georgia. After receiving his Ph.D. in chemistry from the Johns Hopkins University, Herty taught at the University of Georgia and at the University of North Carolina. He also spent two years in the United States Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Forestry, developing an improved system of turpentining that revolutionized the American naval stores industry and won him an international reputation. As president of the American Chemical Society, editor of its industrial journal, adviser to the Chemical Foundation, and as a private consultant, Herty continued to promote southern industrial development through chemistry. On a national level, he urged military preparedness on the Wilson administration, lobbied Congress for protection of war-born chemical industries, and promoted continued cooperation and research by business, government, and universities. Finally, in 1932, he established a pulp and paper laboratory at Savannah, Geo