North High Hall of Fame Inductee - 1987 Dr. Wallace Hume Carothers Class of 1914 April 27, 1896 - April 29, 1937
Dr. Wallace Hume Carothers. Born in Burlington, but his family moved to Des Moines when he was five. His father, Ira, taught at Capital City Commercial College. Wallace attended Sabin Elementary School in Des Moines. Before attending North High, Wallace and his chums, who called him "Doc" and "Professor" established a club and experimented with electricity. Later, while attending North, Wallace turned his bedroom into a laboratory. He earned money by reading water meters and clerking at the Des Moines Public Library. No graduation photo available in the 1914 yearbook, but in that volume, there is recognition specifically given to Wallace Hume Carothers as excelling in the Scientific field. He is now heralded as the father of the science of man-made polymers and the man responsible for the invention of nylon and neoprene. We can thank this North graduate for our nylon hosiery, our diving gear, etc.!
Read links below for complete version of his journey from North High to Capital City Commercial College, to Tarkio, to the University of Illinois, to the University of South Dakota, to Harvard, and then to DuPont People and Discoveries (biographical data) Wallace Hume Carothers as inventor of nylon and neophrene
Born: April 27, 1896. Deceased: April 29, 1937
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