Dr. Alice Evans (1881-1975)
Towanda, Bradford County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Bacteriologist for the US Department of Agriculture who discovered that brucellosis bacteria found in raw milk caused undulant fever in humans. Despite gender discrimination in her field, she published a report in 1918 and promoted milk pasteurization until laws were passed in the late 1920s. She received numerous awards for pioneering contributions in microbiology. Evans graduated from the former Susquehanna Collegiate Institute here.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In the early twentieth century few women held senior posts in American science, yet Alice Evans built a career as a federal bacteriologist just as germ theory was reshaping public health. Her research traced a dangerous recurring fever in people to bacteria carried in unpasteurized milk, and she spent years pressing a skeptical dairy industry and public toward pasteurization. Her path began here in the Susquehanna Valley, at the collegiate institute where she was educated.
Why it matters
Evans's persistence helped make pasteurized milk the American standard, saving countless lives and marking one of the era's quiet triumphs for a woman in science.
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