Historical Herbalist: Alice Ball
Introduction
Alice Ball was born on July 24, 1892 in Seattle, WA.1 Her family was considered middle to upper-middle class. On her paternal side, she came from a line of photographers. In fact, her grandfather, James Ball Sr., was famous and one of the first African Americans in the United States to learn the daguerreotype technique of printing photos on metal plates.2 Growing up, Ball was surrounded by chemical processes used in photo development. Therefore, it isn’t surprising that she went onto to study chemistry in college.
Hello Hawaii
Alice Ball and her family had moved to Hawaii during Alice’s childhood for the health of her grandfather, who suffered from arthritis.3 He died after the move and the family moved back to Seattle where continued her education, graduating from Seattle High School in 1910.1 She then went to the University of Washington where she obtained two bachelor’s degrees, one in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and the other in Pharmacy. Next, she went back to Hawaii where she attended the College of Hawaii (now University of Hawai’i) and received her Master’s in Chemistry.4
Leprosy Legacy
Alice Ball is known for developing the first treatment for those who were suffering with Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy.1 Since she understood the chemistry of plants, Dr. Harry T. Hollman, asked her to study chaulmoogra,6 a tree species native to India.7 The result of her study was an injectable treatment derived from chaulmoogra oil.4 This treatment was used for leprosy from 1915, when Ball discovered it until the 1940s, when a more effective medicine was introduced.5 It was called the “Ball Method,” however Alice Ball died tragically shortly after at the age of 24 and her work was commandeered by colleague who continued her work but never gave her credit until Dr. Hollmann spoke out about it.2
Sources
2 – Alice Ball – Scientificwomen.net
4 – Alice Augusta Ball – Women’s History Matters
5 – Alice Ball: Chemist who cured leprosy – New Scientist
6 – Alice Ball: A Woman of Many Firsts – Women in Exploration
