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Oesper Collection Highlights: Honoring African-American Chemists (St. Elmo Brady)

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The Oesper Collections and Museum in the History of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati is pleased to present a new blog series, Oesper Collection Highlights.  We will feature items from our amazing collections of rare books, prints and portraits, and online collections that will inspire and educate all.  We thank our student intern, Brenna Kobes, for researching and preparing these posts.  If you have questions about the Oesper Museum, please contact Ted Baldwin, Ted.Baldwin@uc.edu, Director of the UC Science and Engineering Libraries. 

Our first installments in the Oesper Collection Highlights will celebrate African-American History Month. African-American Chemists selected for these profiles were early pioneers in the field – some were the first to achieve PhDs in chemistry, whereas others made significant contributions to study and practice. Sometimes their stories and voices have not been heard.  We aim to highlight and celebrate these accomplished African-American chemists who contributed across the spectrum of the chemistry discipline.

St. Elmo Brady

Born in 1884 in Louisville Kentucky, St. Elmo Brady (Fig. 1) is known as the first African American to earn a PhD in Chemistry. In 1905 he earned his bachelor’s in science from Fisk University which he would later return in 1927 to teach chemistry and organic chemistry, a position that he kept for 25 years until his retirement. While studying as Fisk, Brady met Thomas Talley who was a professor of chemistry at the university. His teachings helped to influence Brady and encourage his further studies in the field “I do not remember Thomas Talley for the chemistry he taught me, but for the encouragement and inspiration he gave me to go on” (Martin & Martin , 2006). He then completed his Master of Arts in Chemistry at the University of Illinois. There he co-wrote three papers with Professor Clarence Derick. Brady’s master thesis was written on the Scale Influence of Substitution in Organic Electrolytes (Fig. 2). Once finished, Brady began work on his

Fig. 2, MS thesis cover

Doctorate at the University of Illinois, where he worked in Noyes Laboratory. His thesis was written on the Divalent Oxygen Atom (Fig. 3).

In 1916, he accepted a position at Tuskegee University, then four years later he would move to Howard University. While at Howard, Brady became the chair of the chemistry department. Seven years later Brady would move once again, this time to Fisk University. Here he was chair of the Chemistry department and created the first graduate studies program at a black college. He

Fig. 3, PhD dissertation cover

spent 25 years here before retiring in 1952, leaving an impressive legacy behind. For all the teaching accomplishments that Brady is known for, very little is known about his published works. The works he did write were early in his career and were often co-authored with someone else. Besides his theses for both his Masters and Doctorate, the three abstracts he wrote with Professor Derick and the paper he wrote Professor Beal, the only other written work Brady did were three monographs on household chemistry for girls.

While there is a lack of published work for St Elmo Brady, it is hard to determine what could have caused this. While there is a real possibility that his work was rejected by publishers based on his race (Martin & Martin, 2006), it is also equally possible that Brady enjoyed teaching more than he did writing. Regardless of the amount of published works that Brady had, what cannot be ignored is the path he cleared for those who would follow him. Being the first at something takes courage to not only believe in yourself, but to also know that you are setting an example for so many to follow in the years to follow.

Author: Brenna Kobes (Intern, Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry

Bibliography

Brady, St. Elmo (1884-1966). (n.d.). Retrieved from University of Illnois Urbana-Champaign Department of Chemistry: https://chemistry.illinois.edu/spotlight/alumni/brady-st-elmo-1884-1966

Martin, D. F., & Martin , B. B. (2006). St. Elmo Brady (1884-1966): Pioneering Black Academic Chemist. Florida Scientist, 116-123.

Noyes Laboratory at the University of Illinois. (n.d.). Retrieved from acs.org: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/noyeslaboratory.html#st-elmo-brady-biography

Oesper Collection Highlights: Honoring African-American Chemists (Alice Ball)

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The Oesper Collections and Museum in the History of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati is pleased to present a new blog series, Oesper Collection Highlights.  We will feature items from our amazing collections of rare books, prints and portraits, and online collections that will inspire and educate all.  We thank our student intern, Brenna Kobes, for researching and preparing these posts.  If you have questions about the Oesper Museum, please contact Ted Baldwin, Ted.Baldwin@uc.edu, Director of the UC Science and Engineering Libraries. 

Our first installments in the Oesper Collection Highlights will celebrate African-American History Month. African-American Chemists selected for these profiles were early pioneers in the field – some were the first to achieve PhDs in chemistry, whereas others made significant contributions to study and practice. Sometimes their stories and voices have not been heard.  We aim to highlight and celebrate these accomplished African-American chemists who contributed across the spectrum of the chemistry discipline.

Alice Ball

Fig. 1, Alice Ball

Alice Ball (Figure 1) was born in 1892.  She is best known for developing the Ball Method, which was the best know treatment for leprosy in the 20th century.  Ball earned her master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Hawaii and is known as the university’s first African-American professor as well as its first female professor. Her love for chemistry began early, thanks to her grandfather and parents, all of which worked in the photography field. The development of photographic images relied heavily on mercury vapors and iodine sensitized silver plates, all of which would have provided young Alice with a first glimpse of chemistry in action (Latchman, 2020).

In 1912, Ball completed a bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of Washington. Two years later, she completed a second bachelor’s degree in the science of pharmacy. While at the University of Washington, she co-wrote a pap­er with her professor Williams Dehn, entitled “Benzoylations in Ether Solution” (Collins, 2016) . She was offered opportunities at both the University of California Berkeley and the College of Hawaii (now known as the University of Hawaii).  Ball accepted the latter and began work on her master’s degree in chemistry. Her research investigated the chemical properties of the Kava plant, a native of the Pacific islands. This deep understanding of the chemical properties of plants would later work in her favor.  She was invited to work and research alongside Harry T. Hollmann, then employed by the U.S. Public Health Service in Hawaii and serving as acting assistant surgeon at the Leprosy Investigation Station. Ball studied the chemical properties of chaulmoogra oil, derived from a tree of the same name and used medically for centuries. Several issues were present with use of the oil, however.  Topical application was very difficult due to its very sticky nature, the oil had an unpleasant taste which made ingestion hard for patients, and the oil could not be absorbed by the body – it simply just sat under the skin (Wermager & Heltzel, 2007). Ball developed her namesake method that isolated different compounds within the oil and modified them, thereby producing an oil that retained the medical benefits, but could be absorbed by the skin.

This method remains Ball’s greatest achievement, as she unexpectedly passed away just one year later at the age of 24. It is thought that she died of chlorine exposure and poisoning after teaching the proper way to use a gas mask.  However, the true cause is unknown. Ball did not publish her method and findings before her death.  Fellow chemist Arthur L. Dean stole her work and claimed it as his own work. Hollmann attempted to correct this error by crediting Ball in a paper published in 1922.  However, Ball’s contributions were not truly celebrated until the 1970s. when Kathryn Takara and Stanley Ali (two professors and historians at the University of Hawaii), were able to officially recognize her contributions to the field of chemistry. In 2000, the University of Hawaii honored Ball with a plaque placed at the school’s only chaulmoogra tree (Collins, 2016). In 2020, a short film (Fig. 2) titled The Ball Method was released. This film can be found on streaming video services Kanopy and Amazon Prime. The Ball Method details her life and the contributions that she made to the treatment of leprosy and the field of chemistry.

 

Author: Brenna Kobes, Intern for the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry

Bibliography

Collins, S. N. (2016, May 12). Alice Augusta Ball: Chemical Drug Pioneer. United States of America .

Latchman, D. (2020, April 22). “The Ball Method” trailer introduces Alice Ball, who discovered treatment for leprosy. Retrieved from medium.com: https://medium.com/science-vs-hollywood/who-is-alice-ball-the-hero-behind-the-ball-method-short-film-69b7c5becc34

Mendheim, B. (2007, September). Lost and Found: Alice Augusta Ball an Extradordinary Woman of Hawai’i Nei. Northwest Hawai’i Times. Hawai’i, United States of America .

Wermager, P., & Heltzel, C. (2007, February). Alice A. Ball Young Chemist Gave Hope to Millions. ChemMatter, pp. 16-19.

Oesper Collections Attract International Scholars

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(Contributed by Dr. William Jensen, Curator of the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry)

As the global reputation of the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry continues to grow, these special collections are attracting the attention of more and more international scholars.

Starting in January 2013, Professor José Chamizo of the University of Mexico spent three months of his sabbatical  working in the collections and  returned once more in  June for another two weeks. While at Cincinnati his research focused on the role of instrumentation in initiating chemical revolutions and on the life and work of the 19th-century Mexican chemist, José Ortigiosa.

Detailed image from the Splendor Solis manuscript

Detailed image from the Splendor Solis manuscript

Detailed image from the Splendor Solis manuscript

Detailed image from the Splendor Solis manuscript

In late June, the Oesper collections were also visited by Dr. Eberhard Slenczka, former Director of Libraries for the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremburg, who came to examine our facsimile of the 16th century alchemical manuscript known as the Splendor Solis in order to make comparisons with the copies found in Nuremburg, Paris, London and Spain.

Please direct questions regarding access and use of the Oesper collections to  Professor William B. Jensen or Ted Baldwin, Director of Science and Engineering Libraries.