Alice C. Evans was best known for her study of bacteriology
in milk and cheese. She discovered the
cause of the disease Brucellosis (also known as undulant fever, or Malta fever)
in 1918. Her discovery led to the
pasteurization of milk in 1930.
Education and Early
Life
Evans was born in Neath, Pennsylvania on January 29,
1881. Both she and her brother survived
Scarlet fever; Alice was five years old at the time. After a year of study at the Susquehanna
Collegiate Institute Evans became an elementary school teacher four years until
she could afford to continue her college studies. She went on to earn a B.S. in bacteriology
from Cornell University (1909) and an M.S. from University of Wisconsin-Madison
(1910) being one of the first women to receive scholarships at the schools.
After graduation, Evans became a researcher at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture where she studied bacteriology in milk and cheese. She was the first woman scientist to have a
permanent appointment in the Bureau of Animal Husbandry's U.S. Dairy Division.
Cause of Brucellosis
In 1917, after studying the bacterial contamination of milk
for seven years, Evans demonstrated that Brucellosis is caused by the organism
bacillus abortus. The study, published
in 1918, showed that the bacteria was transmitted in raw milk and caused
disease in both cattle and humans.
Because Evans lacked a Ph.D. and was a woman, her results
were largely ignored at first; she was mocked by dairy workers for suggesting
the pasteurization of milk to kill the bacteria. Her findings were slowly confirmed by other
scientists. Eventually, in 1930, the
pasteurization of milk became mandatory, and the number of cases of Brucellosis
began to decline.
Evans herself contracted Brucellosis in 1925 and suffered from
it for seven years. She continued to deal
with periods of illness and remission for 30 years.
After leaving the Department of Agriculture she went to work
for the U.S. Hygenic Laboratory studying meningitis and streptococcal
infections. She died on September 5,
1975, after 30 years of retirement spent lecturing on female career
development.
Resources:
Distinguished Women of Past and Present - Alice
Catherine Evans
National Women's Hall of Fame - Alice Evans
National Women's History Museum - Alice
Evans (1881-1975)
Wikipedia - Alice Catherine Evans
http://history.nih.gov/ [image]
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