csp-international | Wake Forest Woman's Club

March is Women’s History month. Born in 1892 in Seattle, Washington, Alice Ball broke many barriers before she died at the age of 24. She studied chemistry at the University of Hawaii, where she became the first woman and Black American to obtain both her Master's degree as well as a professorship at the university's chemistry department.While there, Ball studied the properties of chaulmoogra oil, which was a promising treatment for leprosy at the time but difficult to use due to its chemical makeup. Ball developed an injectable form that isolated the active ingredients, rendering a more effective treatment, but she died from an unknown illness before she could publish her findings.Another scientist took credit for her work, and it would take close to 90 years after Ball's death that the University of Hawaii would officially acknowledge her scientific contributions and declare February 29 as "Alice Ball Day."For more information on the club, please visit www.wake-forest-womans-club.com ... See MoreSee Less