Alice Ball was born on July 24, 1892.

Quick Facts

Alice Augusta Ball entered the world in Seattle, Washington, as the middle child in a talented African American family—her father James P. Ball Jr. worked as a lawyer, photographer, and newspaper editor, while her mother Laura was also a photographer. This creative household, influenced by her grandfather James P. Ball Sr.'s pioneering daguerreotype photography, sparked her lifelong passion for science from an early age.

  • Exact Birth Details : July 24, 1892, Seattle, Washington, USA
  • Family Background : One of four siblings (older brothers William and Robert, younger sister Addie); middle-class with strong artistic and professional roots
  • Early Influences : Exposure to chemistry via family darkrooms and photography processes

Her Remarkable Legacy

Though her life was tragically short—she passed away on December 31, 1916, at age 24—Ball's ingenuity shone brightly as an African American chemist who developed the first effective injectable treatment for Hansen's disease (leprosy), known as the "Ball Method." Imagine a young woman in the early 1900s, breaking racial and gender barriers at the University of Hawaii, refining chaulmoogra oil into a lifesaving solution that treated thousands until the 1940s. Her story resurfaced in recent years through documentaries and honors, reminding us how overlooked pioneers like her advanced medicine against all odds.

"Alice Ball inspected the light colored liquid in her test tube... She smiled as the two liquids mixed together."

TL;DR: Alice Ball's birth on July 24, 1892, marked the start of a brilliant, barrier-breaking career in chemistry.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.