Alice Augusta Ball – The Hidden Chemist Who Killed Leprosy Have you ever heard of the young Black woman who helped cure leprosy — but almost no one gave her credit? Her name was Alice Augusta Ball, and she was a brilliant chemist born in Seattle in 1892. At just 23 years old, she discovered a way to turn the thick, hard-to-use chaulmoogra oil into a liquid that could be injected into patients. That discovery saved thousands of lives around the world. It became known as “The Ball Method.” But bef