Alice Ball

Hello! My name is Alice Ball, and I was a scientist. When I was a little girl, born on July 24th, 1892, I was full of questions. I loved looking at the world and figuring out how things worked. My grandfather was a photographer, and he showed me how he used chemicals to make pictures appear on paper like magic! That made me fall in love with chemistry, which is the science of what everything is made of. I knew right then that I wanted to spend my life mixing and measuring and making amazing discoveries.

I studied very hard in school and went to college to learn all about science. After I finished my first two degrees at the University of Washington, I wanted to learn even more. In 1915, I moved all the way to the beautiful, sunny islands of Hawaii to go to a new school, the College of Hawaii. It was a very big deal! When I got my master's degree there, I became the very first African American person and the very first woman to do so. I was also asked to stay and teach, which made me the school's first female chemistry teacher. I was so proud to show that anyone can be a great scientist.

In Hawaii, there was a very serious sickness called leprosy. It made people so sick that they had to live away from their families, which was very sad. A doctor named Harry T. Hollmann knew that oil from a special plant, the chaulmoogra tree, could help. But the oil was sticky and thick, and it was very hard for people to take as medicine. Dr. Hollmann asked me if I could use my chemistry skills to help. I went to my lab and worked and worked. I found a way to make the oil thin enough to be used as a shot. This meant the medicine could finally work properly and help people get better!

Sadly, I got very sick and couldn't finish all of my work. I lived to be only 24 years old. For a long, long time, my name was forgotten, and another person took credit for my discovery. But the truth always finds its way out! Years later, historians figured out that I was the one who solved the chaulmoogra oil puzzle. In the year 2000, Hawaii decided to honor me by making February 29th 'Alice Ball Day.' My work, now called the 'Ball Method,' helped thousands of people with leprosy get well and return to their families. I hope my story shows you that even if you face challenges, your curiosity and hard work can change the world.