Alice Augusta Ball was born July 24, 1892. Many in her family were pioneers of daguerreotype photography, but she went on to become a chemist.
Ball received degrees in pharmacy and pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Washington. She then decided to complete her graduate studies at the College of Hawaii (now the University of Hawaii). Ball became the first woman and first African American from the College of Hawaii to earn a masters. Her focus was on making treatments for leprosy effective and less painful for patients.
Scientists already knew that chaulmoogra oil would prove useful in treating leprosy but results were inconsistent and tended to be painful for patients, often causing abscesses under their skin. Ball developed the Ball Method which allowed chaulmoogra oil to become water soluble and able to be absorbed by the body without any pain.
Ball was not able to publish her findings because she died a year later at the age of 24. It is believed that she died after becoming ill from chlorine poisoning. Arthur L. Dean, former president of the College of Hawaii and chemist, published Ball's work as his own and renamed the Ball Method the Dean Method.
The Ball Method continued to be used until the 1940s. Although she didn't live to see her accomplishments, her work ensured that people with leprosy lived longer, healthier, and happier lives. Mazie Hirono, former Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, declared February 29th Alice Ball Day.
Brewster, Carisa D. “How the Woman Who Found a Leprosy Treatment Was Almost Lost to History.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 28 Feb. 2018, news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/02/alice-ball-leprosy-hansens-disease-hawaii-womens-history-science/.
Scientific Women. “History of Scientific Women.” Alice BALL, scientificwomen.net/women/ball-alice-121.
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