The Birthday of Eternity

J.P. Ball, died May 4, 1904

In October 1887, James Presley Ball moved to Helena, Montana, where the "J. P. Ball & Son" studio was established. Ball photographed hundreds of people in the white, black and Chinese communities. Among other projects, he photographed the building of the state capitol. Ball was elected a delegate to the Republican convention in Montana territory in 1894. He later became president of Montana's Afro-American Club and co-founded the St. James AME Church.  Ball’s son edited a newspaper, the Colored Citizen.

Seattle, 1900

 In 1900, the Ball family moved to Seattle, Washington, where Ball opened the Globe Photo Studio.  Ball remained active in civic affairs, and founded and organized Shriners' lodges in Seattle and Portland.

As Ball suffered from rheumatism, in 1902 the family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, for his health..

Honolulu, Hawaii

Ball died there on May 4, 1904, at the age of 79.

Alice Augusta Ball

His granddaughter, Alice Augusta Ball, who was 12 years old when J.P. Ball died, was the first woman (and the first African American) to earn a Masters’ degree from the University of Hawaii. She was the first to extract active ingredients in chaulmoogra oil to treat Hansen’s disease (leprosy), which had afflicted the Native Hawaiian community since the 1860s.