a biography of the day-alice catherine evans
Alice Catherine Evans
Born January 29, 1881
Neath, Pennsylvania
Died September 5, 1975 (aged 94)
Washington, D.C.
Institutions US Department of Agriculture
United States Public Health Service
Alma mater Susquehanna Collegiate Institute
Cornell University
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Known for Demonstrating that bacillus abortus caused Brucellosis
Alice Catherine Evans (January 29, 1881 – September 5. 1975) was an American microbiologist. She was born on a farm in Neath, Bradford County, Pennsylvania to William Howell and Anne B. Evans. In 1886 Evans survived Scarlet Fever, as did her brother Morgan. She attended the Susquehanna Collegiate Institute for a year, then became a teacher. After earning a B.S. in bacteriology from Cornell University in 1909 and an M.S. from University of Wisconsin–Madison the following year, she became a researcher at the US Department of Agriculture. There she investigated bacteriology in milk and cheese.
Evans joined the United States Public Health Service in 1918, researching epidemic meningitis and influenza at the department's Hygienic Laboratories. That same year she demonstrated that bacillus abortus caused the disease Brucellosis (undulant fever or Malta fever) in both cattle and humans. (In 1925 she also contracted this disease[1] and suffered from the symptoms for seven years.) Initially her results were not taken seriously (due to her gender and lack of a Ph.D.), but they were later confirmed by other scientists. This led to the pasteurization of milk in 1930, a process she had championed. As a result, the national incidence of Brucellosis was significantly reduced. Evans died September 5, 1975 in Washington D.C
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Catherine_Evans
Alice Evans (1881-1975)
ALICE EVANS
Alice C. Evans was a scientist who made one of the most medically important discoveries of the 20th- century. Born in 1881 on a farm in Pennsylvania, Evans worked as an elementary teacher for four years, starting in 1901, because she could not afford to attend college. When a free course on nature was offered to rural teachers at Cornell University, Evans took advantage of the opportunity. While taking the free course, Evans also took a basic course in the Agricultural College, which started her interest in bacteriology. Evans won a scholarship to Cornell and received a Bachelors of Science. Then Evans received the first scholarship offered to a woman from the University of Wisconsin, where she went to obtain her Masters of Science degree.
In 1910, Evans became one of the first women scientists to hold a permanent position at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Bureau of Animal Husbandry. She worked for the dairy division, researching the bacteriology of milk and cheese. From her studies, she identified a bacterial infection carried by cows that could cause undulating fevers in humans and published her findings in 1918. Researchers, veterinarians, and physicians were skeptical of her claim because they did not think that a woman, particularly one without a doctorate degree, could have made such an important discovery. Dairy workers laughed at her warning that raw milk should be pasteurized to prevent people from developing disease. However, other scientists came to the same conclusion in the late 1920s and by the 1930s, the government enacted milk pasteurization laws. Evans’ discovery prevented countless people from suffering from fevers and even death.
Evans was herself infected with undulant fever in 1922, and she suffered from recurrent bouts for thirty years; she went through periods of illness and remission because the disease never left her system. However, this did not stop her from working throughout her life as a widely respected scientist.
After she left the Department of Agriculture, Evans worked for the U.S. Hygienic Laboratory where she made valuable contributions in the field of infectious illness, including meningitis and streptococcal infections. After retiring in 1945, Evans lectured widely to women about career development and encouraged women to pursue scientific careers. She also became the first woman president of the American Society of Bacteriologists. Evans died from a stroke in 1975 at the age of ninety-four.
http://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/alice-evans/