Alice Augusta Ball (1892 - 1916)

Born 24 Jul 1892 in Seattle, King, Washington, United States

Ancestors

Died 31 Dec 1916 at age 24 in Seattle, King, Washington, United States

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Biography

Alice Ball is Notable.

Alice Augusta Ball, the first woman and first African American to obtain a master's degree from the University of Hawaii, was a chemist who made a substantial contribution to medicine by developing the first effective treatment for leprosy prior to the development of antibiotics in the 1940s.^[1]

Birth and Early Life

She was born 24 July 1892 in Seattle, Washington to James Presley Ball, Jr. and Laura Louise Howard. While she and her parents are all listed as white on her birth certificate,^[2] her parents are thought to have done so to "attempt to reduce the prejudice and racism their daughter would face and help her "pass" in white society."^[1] Born fourth,^[2] she was the third of their four surviving children, and the first daughter, and was living with her family through at least June 5, 1900 in Seattle, King County.^[3] That year her grandfather, James Presley Ball Sr., born free in Virginia in 1825, opened a photography gallery in Seattle. He was a well-known daguerreotype photographer who had advanced both abolitionism and his family through his art and the businesses he established through it.^[4] Alice's father was a photographer, and her mother and paternal aunt were also photographers. Her father was also a lawyer and editor of The Colored Citizen, and her family was solidly middle class. In 1903, Alice and her family moved to Hawaii for her grandfather's health. On his death, only a year later, the family returned to Seattle.^[1]

Alice started high school in 1906 at Seattle High School, renamed Broadway High School in 1908,^[5] and graduated from there in 1910.^[1][6] At Broadway High School she was a member of the Science Club and the Dramatic Club; the yearbook page titled "Science Club Calendar" has a listing for "Radium and Radio Active Substances—Alice Ball," and the page with her photo, in a lovely art nouveau style frame, provides the following quote, tragically prescient of the initial denial of her credit for her breakthrough work on leprosy treatment:

BALL, ALICE AUGUSTA.
Scientific.
Entered Feb 1906. (4) Science Club; Dramatic Club.
"I work and work, and still it seems that I have nothing done."^[5]

Education and Research

Alice earned bachelor's degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacy from the University of Washington, the first in 1912, and the second in 1914.^[7][8] Working with her pharmacy instructor, William M Denn, she co-authored an article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, "Benzoylations in Ether Solution," published in 1914. While working on her master's thesis, "The Chemical Constituents of Piper Methysticum; or The Chemical Constituents of the Active Principle of the Ava Root," she was approached by Dr. Harry T. Hollmann, Assistant Surgeon at Kalihi Hospital. Kalihi Hospital was a treatment center for individuals with Hansen's disease, known more commonly as leprosy. Some early work with oil obtained from chaulmoogra trees had shown limited success in treating the condition when taken orally, but the side effects were unpleasant and the treatment insufficiently effective. She was able to quickly isolate the active agents and create an injectable, more absorbable form of the substance which was more effective and without the previous side effects. She was 23 years old.

On 1 June 1915, she earned a master's degree from the University of Hawaii, becoming the first woman to so, the first African American to do so, and the first woman to teach chemistry at the University of Hawaii.^[9]

Death

Alice Ball became ill during the process of completing her master's thesis and working on the treatment for leprosy, probably as a result of inhaling chlorine gas while doing a demonstration for a class in Honolulu,^[10] exacerbated by chronic asthma.^[11] She returned to Seattle for treatment and died about three months later on 31 December 1916, at age 24.^[9][12][13] Her body was cremated.^[14] She died before she was able to publish her work on leprosy -- and before being able to witness the first leprosy patients discharged thanks to her work.

Legacy

Upon her death, Alice Ball's work with chaulmoogra oil was continued by Arthur L. Dean, a fellow chemist (and later president of the University of Hawaii). When, after Alice's death, Dean published the findings, he gave no credit to her and even named the procedure for obtaining the medication to treat leprosy the Dean Method.^[1] In 1918, following injections developed from the oil, Kalihi Hospital released 78 leprosy patients.^[10] Alice's work was finally publicly recognized in 1922 by Dr. Harry T. Hollmann as the Ball Method.^[15] We might never have known of her contributions had Dr. Hollmann not spoken out, but even so it took many years before her accomplishments were fully acknowledged by the University of Hawaii.^[1]

• On February 29, 2000 a plaque was placed on the single chaulmoogra tree on campus in her honor. ^[1]
• In 2007 she was awarded a Medal of Distinction by the university's Board of Regents.^[1]
• February 29th was designated "Alice Ball Day" by Mazie Hirono, then Hawaii's Lieutenant Governor, now a Senator.^[1]
• On Feb 29, 2008, the University of Washington published A tribute to Alice Bell: a scientist whose work with leprosy was overshadowed by a white successor.
• Hawai'i Magazine recognized her contributions as one of Hawaii's most influential women in 2016.^[1]
• "Alice Ball Park," at 8100 Greenwood Ave North in her hometown of Seattle, Washington, is named for her.^[1][16]
• In 2019, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine added her name to the frieze atop its main building, along with Florence Nightingale and Marie Curie, in recognition of their contributions to science and global health research.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11} Wikipedia contributors, "Alice Ball," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alice_Ball&oldid=1075538179 (accessed March 6, 2022).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "Washington, County Birth Registers, 1873-1965", database, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:D54T-G7T2: 25 Nov 2020, Alice A Ball, 24 Jul 1892, King County, WA.

   Father's Name Jas. A Ball, 40, photographer, Ohio

   Mother's Name Laura Howard, 23, Virginia

3. ↑ "United States Census, 1900", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:66JT-QXDQ : 28 January 2022), Alice A Ball in entry for James P Ball, 1900, Washington > King > ED 112 Precinct 4 and 5 Seattle city Ward 7 > image 9 of 36; citing NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
4. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "James Presley Ball," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Presley_Ball&oldid=1045907056 (accessed March 7, 2022), citing Deborah Willis, ed., J. P. Ball, Daguerrean and Studio Photographer, (New York & London: Garland, 1993).
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} 1909 School Yearbook: "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999" "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name: Broadway High School; Year: 1909 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 1265 #240195502 (accessed 31 January 2022) Name: Alice Agusta Ball; Estimated Age: 16; Birth Year: abt 1893; Yearbook Date: 1909; School: Broadway High School; School Location: Seattle, Washington, USA.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGVD-GT3 : accessed 6 March 2022), Alice Augusta Ball in household of James Presley Ball, Seattle Ward 3, King, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 94, sheet 6A, family 128, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1659; FHL microfilm 1,375,672.
7. ↑ 1912 School Yearbook: "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999" "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name: University of Washington; Year: 1912 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 1265 #241279145 (accessed 31 January 2022) Name: Alice A Ball; Yearbook Date: 1912; School: University of Washington; School Location: Seattle, Washington, USA.
8. ↑ 1914 School Yearbook: "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999" "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name: University of Washington; Year: 1914 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 1265 #1000378518 (accessed 31 January 2022) Name: Alice A Ball; Yearbook Date: 1914; School: University of Washington; School Location: Seattle, Washington, USA.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} "Native City Honors Miss Alice A Ball" database w/images (https://www.newspapers.com/ : accessed 20 Apr 2021) The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii) 16 Jan 1917, Tue Page 10
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Paul Wermager and Carl Heltzel, "Alice A. Augusta Ball: Young Chemist Gave Hope to Millions," Chemmatters-february-2007.pdf, pp.12-19

    A 1917 newspaper article in the Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser may offer a clue: “While instructing her class in September 1916, Miss Ball suffered from chlorine poisoning.” During this time, ventilation hoods were not a mandatory safety feature in laboratories.

11. ↑ Her original death certificate was altered at some point to give her cause of death as tuberculosis. See image: "Washington Death Certificates, 1907-1960," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N3LY-HNY : 10 March 2018), Alice A Ball, 31 Dec 1916; citing Seattle, King, Washington, reference cn 2586, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Olympia; FHL microfilm 1,992,417.
12. ↑ "College Instructor Dies", database w/images (https://www.newspapers.com/ : accessed 20 Apr 2021) The Bellingham Herald, (Bellingham, Washington) Monday, Jan 1, 1917
13. ↑ "Ball," The Seattle Daily Times, (Seattle, Washington) Monday Jan 1, 1917
14. ↑ "Washington Deaths and Burials, 1810-1960", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HV7W-58T2 : 30 June 2021), Alice A. Ball, 1917.
15. ↑ Harry T. Hollmann, "The Fatty Acids of Chaulmoogra Oil in the Treatment of Leprosy and Other Diseases," Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology, (1922) 5: 94–101. doi:10.1001/archderm.1922.02350260097010 – via Google books.
16. ↑ Ken Lambert, "Seattle's new Alice Ball Park named for a pioneering medical researcher," Seattle Times, (Seattle, Washington, August 18, 2019).

See also:

• Jackson, Miles. Alice Augusta Ball (1892-1916). 20 Sep 2007. Accessed 21 Aug 2017. Blackpast.org.
• Cup of Jane, Facebook video post about Alice Augusta Ball, Alice Augusta Ball, Facebook video. Accessed 21 Aug 2017.
• "Ball, Alice Augusta." ScholarSpace. Accessed 21 Aug 2017. Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii.
• Rutsch, Poncie. "Episode 7: Alice Ball." Babes of Science. Accessed 24 Aug 2017.
• "A tribute to Alice Bell: a scientist whose work with leprosy was overshadowed by a white successor." The Daily. Accessed 24 Aug 2017. University of Washington.
• "US City Directories, 1822-1995." Database and digital images. Ancestry.com www.ancestry.com: 2011.
• Brewster, Carisa D. How the Woman Who Found a Leprosy Treatment Was Almost Lost to History. 28 Feb 2018. News. National Geographic. Accessed 8 Nov 2021.
• Wikidata: Item Q16059113, en:Wikipedia
• Erika Cederlind, (29 February 2008), "A tribute to Alice Bell: a Scientist whose Work with Leprosy was Overshadowed by a White Successor", The Daily of the University of Washington, Archived from the original on 2014-08-06. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/ : accessed 31 January 2022), memorial page for Alice Augusta Ball (24 Jul 1892–31 Dec 1916), Find A Grave: Memorial #107564660; Maintained by SLGMSD (contributor 46825959) Cremated, location of ashes is unknown.