At the beginning of 2020, the Women of Fisheries Book Club started reading “Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science – and the World” by Rachel Swaby. Each week, we post a picture of each woman and a brief summary so that members can put a face to the story and discuss their accomplishments. The profiles in the book are organized by discipline, so we’ll be choosing one woman from each section to highlight here for inspiration.
First up were women in medicine, and I found Alice Ball the most intriguing. Alice Augusta Ball (1892-1916) was the first woman and first African American to receive a master’s degree from the University of Hawaii, she was also the first woman to teach chemistry at the university. Her research led to the development of an injectable oil extract from the chaulmoogra tree to alleviate leprosy symptoms. The “Ball Method” was used successfully on thousands of infected individuals including those that had been quarantined at Kalaupapa on the Hawaiian island of Moloka’i by the Hawaiian government. Thanks to Alice Ball, people were no longer banished there and could be treated for the symptoms of leprosy within their own homes.
Unfortunately, due to her untimely death at only 24, Alice was unable to publish her revolutionary findings. Her work was not recognized by the University of Hawaii for close to ninety years. In 2000, Ball was finally honored with a plaque at the base of the school’s lone chaulmoogra tree, and February 29 was dedicated as “Alice Ball Day” which is now celebrated every four years in Hawaii. In March 2016, Hawai’i Magazine recognized Ball as one the most influential women in Hawaiian history.
At the beginning of this year, a short film (The Ball Method) based on her story was released, and additional reading can be found below.
Stay tuned every first Monday of the month for more profiles, and join our book club if you’d like to participate in the discussion!
Additional references:
https://scientificwomen.net/women/ball-alice-121