Alice A. Ball died after discovering the world’s first treatment for leprosy

The story of Alice A. Ball is a tragic one. She was a remarkable young woman who did so much for humanity in her short life. Yet, she died as the result of discovering the treatment that would help others.

Who was Alice A. Ball, you may ask since it is pretty likely you have never heard of her. This is why I want to tell her story.

Alice A. Ball was an American pharmaceutical chemist who developed the world’s first successful treatment for those suffering from Hansen’s disease (leprosy).

Alice Augusta Ball was born in Seattle, Washington in 1892. Alice’s grandfather was the well known daguerreotypist James Presley Ball, better known as J.P.Ball. Alice’s father was James P. Ball Jr., a promising lawyer.

What is daguerreotype?

The daguerreotype process, or daguerreotype, was the first publicly available and most commonly used photographic process invented by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre in France and introduced worldwide in 1839. It remained the most successful process in photography until 1860.

Alice’s grandfather lived in Hawai’i back then, where he opened a photographic studio. In 1903 Alice’s family moved to Hawai’i due to her grandfather’s health. He died little after that, in 1904, and the family then returned to Seattle in 1905.

Alice Ball went on with her studies and graduated from the University of Washington with two degrees, one in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 1912 and one in Pharmacy in 1914.

She then moved back to Hawaii to continue graduate studies in chemistry at the College of Hawaii (later the University of Hawai’i).

When she graduated with a master’s of Science degree in chemistry from the University of Hawai’i on 1 June, 1915, she became both the first African-American and the first woman to graduate with a degree in chemistry from the University of Hawai’i.

Alice also became the first woman to teach chemistry in the institution during the 1914–1915 academic year when she was only 23 years old.

Alice Ball began working on a research project involving the effect of Chaulmoogra oil on patients suffering from Hansen disease (commonly known as leprosy).

She became exhausted while working under extreme pressure to produce injectable Chaulmoogra oil, became ill, and returned to Seattle.

Her obituary states that she died due to complications suffered resulting from inhaling chlorine gas during a class demonstration in Honolulu.

Alice Ball died in Seattle on 31 December, 1916 at the age of 24 before publishing her groundbreaking work.

The man who stole Alice Ball’s research and discovery, claiming it as his own

History is full of these cases but I find the case of Alice Ball particularly disturbing perhaps because Alice trusted the man who stole her work.

After Alice’s death, Arthur Dean, the chairman of the Chemistry Department at the University of Hawai’i began using Ball’s research work, testing and treating many patients successfully at Kalaupapa, a small community established in the 1870s on the Molokai Island in the Kalaupapa peninsula, where there is a special hospital for Hansen disease patients.

Dr. Arthur Dean stole Alice Ball’s discovery, claiming her discovery and naming Alice’s discovery after himself. He never credited Alice.

By the year 1921, Dean was mass-producing the injectable leprosy treatment, shipping it to doctors, professors, and government agencies across the world.

It was common for men to take the credit for women’s discoveries. Alice Ball was just one more victim of this malpractice.

In 1922, Dr. Harry T. Hollmann, the assistant surgeon at Kalihi Hospital who was mentor of Alice and had encouraged her to explore chaulmoogra oil, published a research paper giving Alice Ball the proper credit she deserved for her discovery.

The “Ball method” continued to be the most effective method of treatment for treating many patients of Hansen disease until the 1940s when it was replaced by antibiotic treatment.

As late as 1999, one medical journal indicated the “Ball Method” was still being used to treat Hansen disease patients in remote areas.

Despite Alice Ball’s extraordinary accomplishment and contribution to medicine at such a young age, she never received any acknowledgement from the medical world for her groundbreaking work in the cure of Hansen disease, which also cost her her own life.

After her death, the chairman of the Chemistry Department at the University of Hawai’i, who had continued her work, or rather who stole her work, received recognition.

It took several decades before researchers began to learn of Alice Ball’s crucial contribution.

Dr. Kathryn Takara, who studied at the University of Hawai’i, and Stan Ali, whose attention was caught by the mention of Alice Ball in a book published in 1932, are the two persons who revisited the historical record and insisted in giving Alice Ball the recognition she deserved.

Finally, a little too late in the year 2000, the University of Hawai’i acknowledged Alice Augusta Ball as one of its most distinguished graduates.

A small plaque was installed at the University of Hawai’i to commemorate Ball’s accomplishments. Just nearby, lies the Dean Hall.

Alice Augusta Ball Day celebrated in Hawai’i on 28 February

It took another 22 years until Hawai’i recognised Alice Ball giving her the place in the history of science for her contributions that she deserves.

On 28 February 2022, Governor David Ige signed a proclamation declaring 28 February Alice Augusta Ball Day in Hawai’i at a special recognition ceremony on the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa campus. The ceremony was held under a Chaulmoogra tree in her honour.

This proclamation was reaffirmed by Gov. Josh Green in 2023.

A life-sized bronze bust will be sculptured by artist Lynn Liverton and installed in late 2024 inside Hamilton Library.

It took 106 years after Alice A. Ball died for someone to recognise her as the University of Hawai’i’s first African-American graduate and first Black woman to earn her master’s degree in chemistry in 1915. Her accomplishments in her short life were impressive, indeed.

Alice became the University of Hawai’i’s first Black female chemistry instructor and head of the chemistry department.

Her impressive research with kava for her master’s thesis led Alice to be recruited by the U.S. Public Health Service (Kalihi Hospital) to use the same technique to find a treatment for Hansen’s disease.

She applied a new method of isolating ethyl esterification from fatty acids of the Chaulmoogra oil so it could be effectively administered to patients by injection, known as “the Ball Method.”

She was a pioneering scientist and accomplished academic who at the age of 23 was the first person in the world to discover an effective treatment for Hansen’s disease (leprosy) using oil from the Chaulmooga tree.

The Alice Augusta Ball Endowed Scholarship, is aimed to provide support to part-time or full-time under-represented minority students in the UH Mānoa College of Natural Sciences who hope to enter the science field.

The funds go toward tuition, books, fees, and more to those students pursuing a degree in chemistry, biology, or microbiology.

The Alice Augusta Ball Endowed Scholarship was established in 2017 by Paul Wermager, a retired science librarian and former head of Hamilton Library’s science and technology department. He is also writing a book on Alice.

~~~~~~~

You might also enjoy reading: