23: The Ball Method: A Legacy in Science and Shadows

Date: March 19, 2025 Legacy Makers: Stories of Black Inventors and Icons

Title and Show Info  Episode #23. The Ball Method: A Legacy in Science and Shadows                                              Featuring: Toni Davis (Host & Storyteller).

Summary The Ball Method: A Legacy in Science and Shadows  Brilliant. Fearless. Forgotten—until now. Alice Augusta Ball was just 23 when she changed the course of medical history, unlocking a cure that freed thousands from exile. But fate, and injustice, conspired to bury her name in the shadows. A scientific prodigy, Alice cracked the code to transform chaulmoogra oil into a life-saving treatment for leprosy. Yet, after her tragic and mysterious death, someone stole her discovery, erasing her from the history books. This episode unravels the extraordinary, heartbreaking, and ultimately triumphant story of a woman whose genius reshaped medicine. From her trailblazing research to the decades-long fight to reclaim her legacy, we uncover how Alice Ball defied barriers of race, gender, and time itself. Why was she forgotten? Who took credit for her work? And how did the world finally remember her name? Join us as we dive into the science, the scandal, and the staggering impact of The Ball Method—a story of innovation, injustice, and the unstoppable power of truth.

Highlights: 00:56- INTRO.  01:03- ALICE AUGUSTA BALL.  01:38- HER FATHER JAMES PRESLEY BALL.  01:51- HER MOTHER LAURA LOUISE HOWARD BALL. 02:01- HER GRANDFATHER JAMES BALL SR. 02:00- HIS FATHER PASSES AWAY. 03:14- SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL.  03:38- UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON. 03:53- GRADUATE OF UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON. 03:59- CO-PUBLISHES ARTICLE, “BENZOYLATIONS IN ETHER SOLUTION”.  04:24- COLLEGE OF HAWAII.  04:36- KAVA PLANT. 05:15- HANSON’S DISEASE. 06:16- THE BALL METHOD.  07:23- PASSES AWAY. 07:40- THE DEAN METHOD.  07:54- ALICE IS CREDITED FOR THE DISCOVERY OF LEPROSY TREATMENT. 08:13- 78 PATIENTS AT KAHILI HOSPITAL. 08:31- ACCOLADES. 09:24- ALICE BALL DAY. 10:47- BALL METHOD USED UNTIL THE 1940s. 11:24- CONCLUSION. Subscribe to the podcast. 

Links To Additional Resources: Alice BALL A Woman Who Changed the World | University of Hawai‘i Foundation Ball, Alice Augusta Alice Ball | Oxford University Museum of Natural History Alice Augusta Ball (1892-1916) | Behind the frieze | LSHTM UWSOP alumni legend Alice Ball, Class of 1914, solved leprosy therapy riddle - School of Pharmacy Alice Augusta Ball: The unrecognized chemist behind a breakthrough leprosy treatment | EPIC Emerging & Pandemic Infections Consortium Overlooked No More: Alice Ball, Chemist Who Created a Treatment for Leprosy - The New York Times Alice Ball - Wikipedia