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George Washington Carver
By: History.com Editors
Updated: April 24, 2023 | Original: October 27, 2009
George Washington Carver was an agricultural scientist and inventor who developed hundreds of products using peanuts (though not peanut butter, as is often claimed), sweet potatoes and soybeans. Born into slavery before it was outlawed, Carver left home at a young age to pursue education and would eventually earn a master’s degree in agricultural science from Iowa State University. He would go on to teach and conduct research at Tuskegee University for decades, and soon after his death his childhood home would be named a national monument—the first of its kind to honor a Black American.
Born on a farm near Diamond, Missouri , the exact date of Carver’s birth is unknown, but it’s thought he was born in January or June of 1864.
Nine years prior, Moses Carver, a white farm owner, purchased George Carver’s mother Mary when she was 13 years old. The elder Carver reportedly was against slavery , but needed help with his 240-acre farm.
When Carver was an infant, he, his mother and his sister were kidnapped from the Carver farm by one of the bands of slave raiders that roamed Missouri during the Civil War era. They were resold in Kentucky .
Moses Carver hired a neighbor to retrieve them, but the neighbor only succeeded in finding George, whom he purchased by trading one of Moses’ finest horses. Carver grew up knowing little about his mother or his father, who had died in an accident before he was born.
Moses Carver and his wife Susan raised the young George and his brother James as their own and taught the boys how to read and write.
James gave up his studies and focused on working the fields with Moses. George, however, was a frail and sickly child who could not help with such work; instead, Susan taught him how to cook, mend, embroider, do laundry and garden, as well as how to concoct simple herbal medicines.
At a young age, Carver took a keen interest in plants and experimented with natural pesticides, fungicides and soil conditioners. He became known as the “the plant doctor” to local farmers due to his ability to discern how to improve the health of their gardens, fields and orchards.
At age 11, Carver left the farm to attend an all-Black school in the nearby town of Neosho.
He was taken in by Andrew and Mariah Watkins, a childless Black couple who gave him a roof over his head in exchange for help with household chores. A midwife and nurse, Mariah imparted on Carver her broad knowledge of medicinal herbs and her devout faith.
Disappointed with the education he received at the Neosho school, Carver moved to Kansas about two years later, joining numerous other Blacks who were traveling west.
For the next decade or so, Carver moved from one Midwestern town to another, putting himself through school and surviving off of the domestic skills he learned from his foster mothers.
He graduated from Minneapolis High School in Minneapolis, Kansas, in 1880 and applied to Highland College in Kansas (today’s Highland Community College ). He was initially accepted at the all-white college but was later rejected when the administration learned he was Black.
In the late 1880s, Carver befriended the Milhollands, a white couple in Winterset, Iowa , who encouraged him to pursue a higher education. Despite his former setback, he enrolled in Simpson College , a Methodist school that admitted all qualified applicants.
Carver initially studied art and piano in hopes of earning a teaching degree, but one of his professors, Etta Budd, was skeptical of a Black man being able to make a living as an artist. After learning of his interests in plants and flowers, Budd encouraged Carver to apply to the Iowa State Agricultural School (now Iowa State University ) to study botany.
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Carver Makes Black History
In 1894, Carver became the first African American to earn a Bachelor of Science degree. Impressed by Carver’s research on the fungal infections of soybean plants, his professors asked him to stay on for graduate studies.
Carver worked with famed mycologist (fungal scientist) L.H. Pammel at the Iowa State Experimental Station, honing his skills in identifying and treating plant diseases.
In 1896, Carver earned his Master of Agriculture degree and immediately received several offers, the most attractive of which came from Booker T. Washington (whose last name George would later add to his own) of Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University ) in Alabama .
Washington convinced the university’s trustees to establish an agricultural school, which could only be run by Carver if Tuskegee was to keep its all-Black faculty. Carver accepted the offer and would work at Tuskegee Institute for the rest of his life.
Tuskegee Institute
Carver’s early years at Tuskegee were not without hiccups.
For one, agriculture training was not popular—Southern farmers believed they already knew how to farm and students saw schooling as a means to escape farming. Additionally, many faculty members resented Carver for his high salary and demand to have two dormitory rooms, one for him and one for his plant specimens.
Carver also struggled with the demands of the faculty position he held. He wanted to devote his time to researching agriculture for ways to help out poor Southern farmers, but he was also expected to manage the school’s two farms, teach, ensure the school’s toilets and sanitary facilities worked properly, and sit on multiple committees and councils.
Carver and Washington had a complicated relationship and would butt heads often, in part because Carver wanted little to do with teaching (though he was beloved by his students). Carver would eventually get his way when Washington died in 1915 and was succeeded by Robert Russa Moton, who relieved Carver of his teaching duties except for summer school.
What Did George Washington Carver Invent?
By this time, Carver already had great successes in the laboratory and the community. He taught poor farmers that they could feed hogs acorns instead of commercial feed and enrich croplands with swamp muck instead of fertilizers. But it was his ideas regarding crop rotation that proved to be most valuable.
Through his work on soil chemistry, Carver learned that years of growing cotton had depleted the nutrients from soil, resulting in low yields. But by growing nitrogen-fixing plants like peanuts, soybeans and sweet potatoes, the soil could be restored, allowing yield to increase dramatically when the land was reverted to cotton use a few years later.
To further help farmers, he invented the Jessup wagon, a kind of mobile (horse-drawn) classroom and laboratory used to demonstrate soil chemistry.
Carver: The Peanut Man
Farmers, of course, loved the high yields of cotton they were now getting from Carver’s crop rotation technique. But the method had an unintended consequence: A surplus of peanuts and other non-cotton products.
Carver set to work on finding alternative uses for these products. For example, he invented numerous products from sweet potatoes, including edible products like flour and vinegar and non-food items such as stains, dyes, paints and writing ink.
But Carver’s biggest success came from peanuts.
In all, he developed more than 300 food, industrial and commercial products from peanuts, including milk, Worcestershire sauce, punches, cooking oils, salad oil, paper, cosmetics, soaps and wood stains. He also experimented with peanut-based medicines, such as antiseptics, laxatives and goiter medications.
It should be noted, however, that many of these suggestions or discoveries remained curiosities and did not find widespread applications.
In 1921, Carver appeared before the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on behalf of the peanut industry, which was seeking tariff protection. Though his testimony did not begin well, he described the wide range of products that could be made from peanuts, which not only earned him a standing ovation but also convinced the committee to approve a high protected tariff for the common legume.
He then became known as “The Peanut Man.”
Fame and Legacy
In the last two decades of his life, Carver lived as a minor celebrity but his focus was always on helping people.
He traveled the South to promote racial harmony, and he traveled to India to discuss nutrition in developing nations with Mahatma Gandhi .
Up until the year of his death, he also released bulletins for the public (44 bulletins between 1898 and 1943). Some of the bulletins reported on research findings but many others were more practical in nature and included cultivation information for farmers, science for teachers and recipes for housewives.
In the mid-1930s, when the polio virus raged in America, Carver became convinced that peanuts were the answer. He offered a treatment of peanut oil massages and reported positive results, though no scientific evidence exists that the treatments worked (the benefits patients experienced were likely due to the massage treatment and attentive care rather than the oil).
Carver died on January 5, 1943, at Tuskegee Institute after falling down the stairs of his home. He was 78 years old. Carver was buried next to Booker T. Washington on the Tuskegee Institute grounds.
Soon after, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation for Carver to receive his own monument, an honor previously only granted to presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln .
The George Washington Carver National Monument now stands in Diamond, Missouri. Carver was also posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
“Where there is no vision, there is no hope.”
“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.”
“When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.”
George Washington Carver; American Chemical Society . George W. Carver (1865? – 1943); The State Historical Society of Missouri . George Washington Carver; Science History Museum . George Washington Carver, The Black History Monthiest Of Them All; NPR . George Washington Carver And The Peanut; American Heritage .
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George Washington Carver
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Who was George Washington Carver?
George Washington Carver was an American agricultural chemist, agronomist, and experimenter whose development of new products derived from peanuts (groundnuts), sweet potatoes , and soybeans helped revolutionize the agricultural economy of the South .
George Washington Carver was born into slavery, the son of an enslaved woman named Mary, owned by Moses Carver. During the American Civil War , George and Mary were kidnapped and taken away to be sold. Moses Carver located George but not Mary, and George lived on the Carver property until about age 10 or 12.
How was George Washington Carver educated?
In his late 20s George Washington Carver obtained a high-school education in Kansas while working as a farmhand. He received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science (1894) and a master of science degree (1896) from Iowa State Agricultural College (later Iowa State University ).
George Washington Carver’s work, which began for the sake of poor Black sharecroppers , led to a better life for the entire South by liberating it from its environmentally destructive dependence on cotton . His efforts brought about a significant advance in agricultural training in an era when agriculture was the largest single occupation of Americans.
George Washington Carver (born 1861?, near Diamond Grove , Missouri , U.S.—died January 5, 1943, Tuskegee , Alabama) was a revolutionary American agricultural chemist, agronomist , and experimenter who was born into slavery and sought to uplift Black farmers through the development of new products derived from peanuts , sweet potatoes , and soybeans . His work helped transform the stagnant agricultural economy of the South after the American Civil War . For most of his career he taught and conducted research at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University ) in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Carver was the son of an enslaved woman named Mary, who was owned by Moses Carver; his father was killed in an accident before he was born. Of his early life, Carver wrote, “I was born in Diamond Grove, Missouri, about the close of the great Civil War, in a little one-roomed log shanty, on the home of Mr. Moses Carver, a German by birth and the owner of my mother, my father being the property of Mr. Grant, who owned the adjoining plantation.” During the turbulence of the Civil War, the Carver farm was raided, and infant George and his mother were kidnapped and taken to Arkansas to be sold. Moses Carver was eventually able to track down young George but was unable to find Mary. Frail and sick, the orphaned child was returned to the Carver plantation and nursed back to health.
With the abolition of slavery in the United States in 1865, George was no longer enslaved. He remained with the Carvers until he was about 10 or 12 years old, when he left to acquire an education. He traveled 8 miles (13 km) to the county seat of Neosho , Missouri, where he found room and board with Mariah and Andrew Watkins, an African American couple. He briefly attended a school for Black children but quickly moved beyond the basic literacy offered by the schoolmaster, who himself had a limited education. Carver then spent some time wandering about, working with his hands and developing his keen interest in plants and animals. Both Susan Carver—the wife of his former owner—and Mariah Watkins had taught him about gardening and medicinal herbs, and he continued to grow his botanical knowledge. He also learned to draw, and later in life he devoted considerable time to painting flowers, plants, and landscapes.
By both books—including Webster’s Elementary Spelling Book , which he learned nearly by heart—and experience, young George acquired a fragmentary education while doing whatever work came to hand in order to subsist. He supported himself by varied occupations that included general household worker, hotel cook, laundryman, farm laborer, and homesteader. In his late 20s he obtained a high-school education in Minneapolis, Kansas , while working as a farmhand. He applied and was accepted to Highland College in Kansas, but, when he appeared in person to register, the school refused to admit him because he was Black. Pained by that rejection, he continued to travel the country and eventually landed in Iowa, where he met the white Milhollands sometime in the late 1800s. The couple befriended him and urged Carver to enroll in nearby Simpson College in Indianola ; he would later credit them for his continued pursuit of higher education . Carver studied piano and art at Simpson before transferring to Iowa State Agricultural College (later Iowa State University ), where he received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science in 1894 and a Master of Science degree in 1896.
Carver left Iowa for Alabama in the fall of 1896 to direct the newly organized department of agriculture at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute , a school headed by noted African American educator Booker T. Washington . Given that Carver was the only African American in the United States with a graduate degree in agricultural science , Washington aggressively pursued him for the all-Black faculty of the school. In accepting the position, Carver wrote:
It has always been the one great ideal of my life to be of the greatest good to the greatest number of ‘my people’ possible and to this end I have been preparing myself these many years; feeling as I do that this line of education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom to our people.
Indeed, at Tuskegee, Washington sought to improve the lot of African Americans through education and the acquisition of useful skills rather than through political agitation, and he stressed conciliation and compromise. Carver complemented those aims in his desire to help Black farmers rise above sharecropping and saw economic development as a path for Black advancement in American society. Despite many offers elsewhere, Carver remained at Tuskegee for the rest of his life.
After becoming the institute’s director of agricultural research in 1896, Carver devoted his time to research projects aimed at helping Southern agriculture, demonstrating ways in which farmers could improve their economic situation. He conducted experiments in soil management and crop production and directed an experimental farm. At this time, agriculture in the Deep South was in steep decline because the unremitting single-crop cultivation of cotton had left the soil of many fields exhausted and worthless, and erosion had then taken its toll on areas that could no longer sustain any plant cover. As a remedy, Carver urged Southern farmers to plant peanuts ( Arachis hypogaea ) and soybeans ( Glycine max ). As members of the legume family ( Fabaceae ), these plants could restore nitrogen to the soil while also providing the protein so badly needed in the diet of many Southerners.
Carver found that Alabama’s soils were particularly well suited to growing peanuts and sweet potatoes ( Ipomoea batatas ), but, when the state’s farmers began cultivating these crops instead of cotton, they found little demand for them on the market. In response to this problem, Carver set about enlarging the commercial possibilities of the peanut and sweet potato through a long and ingenious program of laboratory research. He ultimately developed 300 derivative products from peanuts—among them milk, flour , ink , dyes , plastics , wood stains, soap , linoleum , medicinal oils, and cosmetics —and 118 from sweet potatoes, including flour, vinegar , molasses , ink, a synthetic rubber , and postage stamp glue. In helping farmers, particularly Black sharecroppers, find a market for their crops and increase the productivity of their farms by protecting and regenerating the soil, Carver hoped to bring them closer to financial security and liberation.
In 1914, at a time when the boll weevil had almost ruined cotton growers, Carver revealed his experiments to the public, and increasing numbers of the South’s farmers began to turn to peanuts, sweet potatoes, and their derivatives for income. Much exhausted land was renewed, and the South became a major new supplier of agricultural products. When Carver arrived at Tuskegee in 1896, the peanut had not even been recognized as a crop, but within the next half century it became one of the six leading crops throughout the United States and, in the South, the second cash crop (after cotton) by 1940. In 1942 the U.S. government allotted 2,023,428 hectares (5,000,000 acres) of peanuts to farmers. Carver’s efforts had finally helped liberate the South from its excessive dependence on cotton.
Among Carver’s many honors were his election to Britain’s Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce (London) in 1916 and his receipt of the Spingarn Medal in 1923. Late in his career he declined an invitation to work for Thomas Edison at a salary of more than $100,000 a year. U.S. Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Franklin D. Roosevelt visited him, and his friends included Henry Ford and Mahatma Gandhi . Foreign governments requested his counsel on agricultural matters: Joseph Stalin , for example, in 1931 invited him to manage cotton plantations in southern Russia and to make a tour of the Soviet Union , but Carver refused.
In 1940 Carver donated his life savings to the establishment of the Carver Research Foundation at Tuskegee for continuing research in agriculture. During World War II he worked to replace the textile dyes formerly imported from Europe, and in all he produced dyes of 500 shades.
Many scientists thought of Carver more as a concoctionist than as a contributor to scientific knowledge. Many of his fellow African Americans were critical of what they regarded as his subservience. Certainly, this small, mild, soft-spoken, innately modest man, eccentric in dress and mannerism, seemed unbelievably heedless of the conventional pleasures and rewards of this life. But these qualities endeared Carver to many whites, who were almost invariably charmed by his humble demeanor and his quiet work in self-imposed segregation at Tuskegee. As a result of his accommodation to the mores of the South, many whites came to regard him with a sort of patronizing adulation .
Carver thus, for much of white America, increasingly came to stand as a kind of saintly and comfortable symbol of the intellectual achievements of African Americans. Carver was evidently uninterested in the role his image played in the racial politics of the time. His great desire in later life was simply to serve humanity, and his work, which began for the sake of the poorest of the Black sharecroppers , paved the way for a better life for the entire South. On the importance of leaving a legacy , he famously quipped, “No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind him distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it.” His efforts brought about a significant advance in agricultural training in an era when agriculture was the largest single occupation of Americans, and he extended Tuskegee’s influence throughout the South by encouraging improved farm methods, crop diversification, and soil conservation.
George Washington Carver
- Occupation: Scientist and educator
- Born: January 1864 in Diamond Grove, Missouri
- Died: January 5, 1943 in Tuskegee, Alabama
- Best known for: Discovering many ways to use the peanut
- Growing up George had been known as Carver's George. When he started school he went by George Carver. He later added the W in the middle telling his friends it stood for Washington.
- People in the south at the time called peanuts "goobers".
- Carver would sometimes take his classes out to the farms and teach farmers directly what they could do to improve their crops.
- His nickname later in life was the "Wizard of Tuskegee".
- He wrote up a pamphlet called "Help for Hard Times" that instructed farmers on what they could do to improve their crops.
- It takes over 500 peanuts to make one 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
- Listen to a recorded reading of this page:
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George Washington Carver
Scientist and educator George Washington Carver was born into slavery and became an internationally famous botanist known for his many inventions, including more than 300 uses for the peanut.
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c. 1864-1943
Who Was George Washington Carver?
Quick facts, early life: when was george washington carver born, tuskegee institute teacher, what did george washington carver invent, racial advocacy and personal life, how did george washington carver die, legacy: museum, national monument, and more.
FULL NAME: George W. Carver BORN: c. 1864 DIED: January 5, 1943 BIRTHPLACE: Diamond, Missouri
George Washington Carver was most likely born in 1864 in Diamond, Missouri, during the Civil War years. Like many children of slaves, the exact year and date of his birth are unknown. He was one of many children born to Mary and Giles, an enslaved couple owned by Moses Carver. Giles died in an accident prior to his son’s arrival.
Aladdin 'A Weed Is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver' by Aliki
A week after his birth, George was kidnapped from the Carver farm, along with his sister and mother, by raiders from the neighboring state of Arkansas. The three were later sold in Kentucky. Among them, only the infant George was located by an agent of Moses Carver and returned to Missouri.
The conclusion of the Civil War in 1865 brought the end of slavery in Missouri. Moses and and his wife, Susan, subsequently raised George, as well as his older brother James, and gave him their surname.
In his later recollections, George described himself as a sickly child whose body was feeble and in “a constant warfare between life and death to see who would gain the mastery.” As a result, he often assisted Susan with domestic chores instead of doing farm labor and learned how to cook and embroider.
While living there, George developed a fascination with plants and collected specimens from the nearby woods—a hobby that foreshadowed his accomplishments later in life.
Because no local school accepted Black students at the time, Carver’s stand-in mother, Susan, taught him to read and write. The search for knowledge remained a driving force for the rest of George’s life.
When he was around 11 to 12 years old, he left the Carver home to travel to a school for Black children about 10 miles away in the town of Neosho. Although George never lived on the Carver farm again, he kept in touch with Moses and Susan and often returned to visit them.
While at school in Neosho, Carver lived with Mariah and Andrew Watkins, a Black couple who offered him lodging in exchange for help with household tasks such as laundry. Upon meeting Mariah, the boy introduced himself as “Carver’s George,” as he had done his whole life in reference to his prior owner and caretaker. Mariah told him from now on he should refer to himself as “George Carver.”
Years later, Carver adopted the middle initial “W” to distinguish himself from another man named George Carver, but it didn’t stand for any name in particular. A reporter once asked him if the initial stood for “Washington,” and he replied, “Why not?” However, Carver never actually used the name Washington and signed letters as simply George Carver or George W. Carver.
Mariah was a great influence for Carver, introducing him to the African Methodist Episcopal Church and encouraging his studious habits. “You must learn all you can, then go back out into the world and give your learning back to the people,” she told him .
Carver attended a series of schools before receiving his diploma at Minneapolis High School in Minneapolis, Kansas. Initially accepted to Highland College in Highland, Kansas, Carver was later denied admittance once college administrators learned of his race. Instead of attending classes, he homesteaded a claim, where he conducted biological experiments and compiled a geological collection.
While interested in science, Carver was also interested in the arts. In 1890, he began studying art and music at Simpson College in Iowa, developing his painting and drawing skills through sketches of botanical samples. His obvious aptitude for drawing the natural world prompted a teacher to suggest that Carver enroll in the botany program at the Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University).
Carver moved to Ames and began his botanical studies the following year as the first Black student at Iowa State. He excelled in his studies. Upon completion of his bachelor of science degree in 1894, Carver’s professors Joseph Budd and Louis Pammel persuaded him to stay on for a master’s degree, which he completed in 1896.
His graduate studies included intensive work in plant pathology at the Iowa Experiment Station. In these years, Carver established his reputation as a brilliant botanist and began the work he pursued throughout his career.
After graduating from Iowa State, Carver embarked on a career of teaching and research. Booker T. Washington , the founder of the Tuskegee Institute, hired Carver to run the historically Black school’s agricultural department in 1896.
Washington lured the promising young botanist to the Alabama institute with a hefty salary and the promise of two rooms on campus, while most faculty members lived with a roommate. Carver’s special status stemmed from his accomplishments and reputation, as well as his degree from a prominent institution not normally open to Black students.
The agricultural department at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) achieved national renown under Carver’s leadership, with a curriculum and a faculty that he helped to shape. Areas of research and training included methods of crop rotation and the development of alternative cash crops for farmers in areas heavily planted with cotton. This work helped under harsh conditions, including the devastation of the boll weevil beginning in 1892.
The development of new crops and diversification of crop uses helped stabilize the livelihoods of American Southerns, including many former enslaved people who had backgrounds similar to Carver’s own. Additionally, the education of African American students at Tuskegee contributed directly to the effort of economic mobilization among Black people.
In addition to formal education in a traditional classroom setting, Carver pioneered a mobile classroom to bring his lessons to farmers. The classroom was known as a “Jesup wagon,” after New York financier and Tuskegee donor Morris Ketchum Jesup.
Carver went on to become a prominent scientific expert and one of the most famous African Americans of his time. Carver achieved international fame in political and professional circles. President Theodore Roosevelt admired his work and sought his advice on agricultural matters affecting the United States. In 1916, Carver became a member of the British Royal Society of Arts—a rare honor for an American. He also advised Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi on matters of agriculture and nutrition.
The educator used his celebrity to promote scientific causes for the remainder of his life. He wrote a syndicated newspaper column and toured the nation, speaking on the importance of agricultural innovation and the achievements at Tuskegee.
Carver’s work at the helm of the Tuskegee Institute’s agricultural department included groundbreaking research on plant biology, much of which focused on the development of new uses for crops including peanuts, sweet potatoes, soybeans, and pecans.
At the time, cotton production was on the decline in the South, and overproduction of a single crop had left many fields exhausted and barren. Carver suggested planting peanuts and soybeans, both of which could restore nitrogen to the soil, along with sweet potatoes. Although these crops grew well in southern climates, there was little demand. Carver’s inventions and research solved this problem and helped struggling sharecroppers in the South find solid ground.
Carver’s inventions include hundreds of products, including more than 300 from peanuts (milk, plastics, paints, dyes, cosmetics, medicinal oils, soap, ink, and wood stains), 118 from sweet potatoes (molasses, postage stamp glue, flour, vinegar, and synthetic rubber), and even a type of gasoline.
Did George Washington Carver Invent Peanut Butter?
Contrary to popular belief, Carver didn’t invent peanut butter . However, he did do a lot of research into new and alternate uses for peanuts.
He even became known as the “Peanut Man” after delivering a speech before the Peanut Growers Association in 1920 attesting to the wide potential of peanuts. The following year, Carver testified before Congress in support of a tariff on imported peanuts, which Congress passed in 1922.
Beyond science, Carver spoke about the possibilities for racial harmony in the United States. From 1923 to 1933, he toured white Southern colleges for the Commission on Interracial Cooperation.
However, Carver largely remained outside of the political sphere and declined to criticize prevailing social norms outright. Thus, the politics of accommodation, which Carver and Booker T. Washington championed, stood in stark contrast to activists who sought more radical change. Nonetheless, Carver’s scholarship and research contributed to improved quality of life for many farming families, making Carver an icon for Black and white Americans alike.
The high-profile scientist developed many friendships throughout his life, including with notable figures like auto magnate Henry Ford . Interested in developing alternatives to gasoline, Ford was drawn to Carver’s work with soybeans and peanuts. They worked on numerous projects together, including a successful replacement for rubber they created in 1942 using the goldenrod plant. Ford even had an elevator installed in Carver’s dormitory so he could access his lab more easily during his later years.
Carver never married and isn’t known to have fathered any children. Often more focused on his work than his relationships, he rejected matchmaking attempts by his friends. Still, around age 40, he began a three-year relationship with Sarah Hunt , a teacher in the Tuskegee Institute night school program. Author Christina Vella suggests in her 2015 biography titled George Washington Carver: A Life that Carver was bisexual.
In 1935, as his health was declining, Carver took on an assistant named Austin W. Curtis. Curtis assisted Carver with his research and writings and even accompanied him while traveling. Curtis also performed some of his own research during this time. “He seems to me more like a son than a person who has just come to work for me,” Carver said of Curtis, who even began calling himself “Baby Carver.”
Carver died after falling down the stairs at his home on January 5, 1943, around age 78.
He was buried next to Booker T. Washington on the Tuskegee Institute grounds. Carver’s epitaph reads: “He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world.” A funeral service for Carver was held at Tuskegee’s chapel.
Before Carver’s death, the first museum bearing his named opened in 1941. The George Washington Carver Museum, located on the Tuskegee Institute campus in Alabama, displayed much of his life’s work, including scientific specimens and some of his paintings and drawings. Carver, who had lived a frugal life, helped fund the museum as did his friend and collaborator Henry Ford . The scientist also established the George Washington Carver Foundation at Tuskegee, with the aim of supporting future agricultural research.
In December 1947, a fire broke out in the George Washington Carver museum, destroying much of the collection. One of the surviving works by Carver is a painting of a yucca and a cactus that was displayed at the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Since 1977, the National Park Service has owned and operated the museum.
A project to erect a national monument in Carver’s honor also began before his death. Then-Senator Harry S. Truman from Missouri sponsored a bill in favor of a monument during World War II . Supporters of the bill argued that the wartime expenditure was warranted because the monument would promote patriotic fervor among Black Americans and encourage them to enlist in the military. The bill passed unanimously in both houses.
In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated $30,000 for the George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, Missouri, the site of the plantation where Carver lived as a child. It is the first national monument dedicated to an African American. The 210-acre complex includes a statue of Carver as well as a nature trail, museum, and cemetery.
Carver appeared on U.S. commemorative postal stamps in 1948 and 1998, as well as a commemorative half dollar coin minted between 1951 and 1954. Numerous schools bear his name, as do two United States military vessels. In 2005, the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis opened a George Washington Carver Garden, which includes a life-size statue of the garden’s famous namesake.
These honors attest to Carver’s enduring legacy as an icon of African American achievement and of American ingenuity more broadly. Carver’s life has come to symbolize the transformative potential of education, even for those born into the most unfortunate and difficult of circumstances.
- It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of automobile one drives, nor the amount of money one has in the bank, that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply service that measures success.
- When our thoughts—which bring actions—are filled with hate against anyone, Negro or white, we are in a living hell. That is as real as hell will ever be.
- I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting system, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.
- When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.
- Look about you. Take hold of the things that are here. Let them talk to you. You learn to talk to them.
- Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater. Keep your thoughts free from hate, and you need have no fear from those who hate you.
- While hate for our fellow man puts us in a living hell, holding good thoughts for them brings us an opposite state of living, one of happiness, success, peace. We are then in heaven.
- Instead of growing morose and despondent over opportunities either real or imaginary that are shut from us, let us rejoice at the many unexplored fields in which there is unlimited fame and fortune to the successful explorer and upon which there is no color line; simply survival of the fittest.
- Our creator is the same and never changes despite the names given Him by people here and in all parts of the world. Even if we gave Him no name at all, He would still be there, within us, waiting to give us good on this earth.
- Nature study is agriculture, and agriculture is nature study—if properly taught.
- More and more as we come closer and closer in touch with nature and its teachings are we able to see the Divine and are therefore fitted to interpret correctly the various languages spoken by all forms of nature about us.
- As I worked on projects which fulfilled a real human need forces were working through me which amazed me. I would often go to sleep with an apparently insoluble problem. When I woke the answer was there.
- We get closer to God as we get more intimately and understandingly acquainted with the things he has created. I know of nothing more inspiring than that of making discoveries for one’s self.
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George Washington Carver’s Life, Honors, and Inventions Essay
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Introduction
Education background, awards and honors.
In the 20th century, George Washington Carver stood out as a highly influential African-American scientist and inventor. Born into slavery in 1864, he went on to become a renowned educator and innovator whose contributions were critical to the success of the agricultural industry in the United States, particularly in the Southern states. Carver passed away on January 5, 1943, at the age of 78. Carver is best known for his work in introducing the concept of crop rotation to farmers, which helped to increase soil fertility and crop yields. His numerous awards and honors demonstrate his lasting legacy in the agricultural industry and beyond, and his life and work continue to be celebrated today.
Carver faced a difficult start to life that was characterized by hardship and loss. Born into slavery on a Missouri farm, he was orphaned while still young. However, his intellect was acknowledged, and he was sent to school in the nearby town of Neosho, Missouri. At the age of 15, Carver demonstrated exceptional ability as a student and successfully completed high school. He then enrolled at Simpson College, where he studied art and piano, and eventually earned a degree in agriculture from Iowa State College in 1894 (“George Washington Carver”). Carver went on to pursue a master’s degree in agriculture at the same college, becoming the first African American to do so.
Throughout his career, Carver was recognized with several awards and honors for his pioneering work. In 1915, he became the first African American to receive the Spingarn Medal, which was awarded to him by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was for his work in the agricultural industry that Carver received the Theodore Roosevelt Medal in 1923, and for his work in the NAACP as well, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal in 1939, which is the organization’s highest honor. Being elected as a member of the Royal Society of Arts in London, Carver became the first African American to achieve this distinction. Honorary degrees were conferred upon him by various colleges and universities, including Harvard, the University of Rochester, and Tuskegee University.
Carver’s inventions revolutionized the agricultural industry and opened up new economic opportunities for African American farmers. He developed improved farming methods and new uses for crops, creating blueprints for over 300 products made from peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans. These products included paints, plastics, dyes, fuels, and cosmetics, and his blueprints provided detailed instructions for their creation. In addition to step-by-step instructions on how to assemble the products, Carver’s blueprints included diagrams and illustrations, as well as information on the benefits of the products and how to use them. His inventions were highly sought after by farmers and businesses alike and continue to be influential in the field of agriculture.
The legacy of George Washington Carver provides inspiration to aspiring scientists and inventors from all walks of life. Despite facing significant adversity, he was able to pursue an education and achieve ground-breaking success in the field of agriculture. Even today, Carver’s innovative work in agriculture and beyond remains the subject of study and admiration, attesting to its enduring impact on the industry and society as a whole. Carver’s blueprints are evidence of both his brilliance and unwavering commitment to enhancing the livelihoods of African American farmers. They stand as a symbol of the significance of innovation and determination in challenging circumstances. George Washington Carver’s impact on agriculture and society at large will be felt for generations to come as a result of his valuable contributions.
“ George Washington Carver (U.S. National Park Service) .” National Parks Service , U.S. Department of the Interior, Web.
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Decent Essays. 1242 Words. 5 Pages. Open Document. George Washington Carver was born into slavery January of 1860 on the Moses Carver plantation in Diamond Grove, Missouri. He spent the first year of his life, the brutal days of border war, between Missouri and neighboring Kansas. George was a very sickly child with a whooping cough, which ...
George Washington Carver. Born on a farm near Diamond, Missouri, the exact date of Carver's birth is unknown, but it's thought he was born in January or June of 1864. Nine years prior, Moses ...
George Washington Carver (born 1861?, near Diamond Grove, Missouri, U.S.—died January 5, 1943, Tuskegee, Alabama) was a revolutionary American agricultural chemist, agronomist, and experimenter who was born into slavery and sought to uplift Black farmers through the development of new products derived from peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans.His work helped transform the stagnant ...
George Washington Carver. Biography. Go here to watch a video about George Washington Carver . George Washington Carver by Arthur Rothstein. Occupation: Scientist and educator. Born: January 1864 in Diamond Grove, Missouri. Died: January 5, 1943 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Best known for: Discovering many ways to use the peanut.
Learn More. George Washington Carver comes from Diamond Grove, Missouri. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but it is estimated to be in the mid-1860s. Carver had never excelled in health, which is why, coming from a slave family, he has never been sent to work in the fields. Instead, the boy did gardening.
George Washington Carver was a Black scientist and inventor famous for his work with the peanut; he invented more than 300 products involving the crop, including dyes, plastics, and gasoline, but ...
Introduction. In the 20th century, George Washington Carver stood out as a highly influential African-American scientist and inventor. Born into slavery in 1864, he went on to become a renowned educator and innovator whose contributions were critical to the success of the agricultural industry in the United States, particularly in the Southern states.
621 Words. 3 Pages. Open Document. George Washington Carver. George Washington Carver was born in Diamond Grove, Missouri during the spring of 1864 or 1865. Like many slaves, he was uncertain of his birth date. His mother, Mary, was a slave who belonged to Moses and Susan Carver. As an infant, slave raiders kidnapped his mother.
George Washington Carver was born into slavery in about 1864 in Diamond, MO. when George was no less than a week old he was kidnapped along with his sister and mother by Arkansan night raiders they then sold them in Kentucky. his master Moses carver hired John Bentley to find them but, sadly only found baby George. When slavery ended Moses ...
George Washington Carver 3 George Washington Carver was born a slave in Diamond Grove, Missouri. As a small child Carver was rescued from a band of Confederate kidnappers. From early on Carver was determined to get himself an education. Carver began his schooling in Newton Country, and while attending school he also worked very hard as a farm hand.
Carver overcame the handicap of being an orphaned son of a slave seeking an education. The verifiable parts of his story prove that the obstacles existed, and Carver's method of overcoming them ...
Cite this page as follows: "George Washington Carver: An American Biography - Critical Context." Critical Edition of Young Adult Fiction, edited by Frank Northen Magill, eNotes.com, Inc., 1993, 19 ...
Summary. Rackham Holt's George Washington Carver: An American Biography gives details of Carver's life from beginning to end, including the development of his research. Starting with the ...
In this essay, we will explore the character traits of George Washington Carver and how they contributed to his remarkable achievements. By examining his life and the historical context in which he lived, we can gain a deeper understanding of the impact that Carver had on science, agriculture, and the fight for racial equality in America.
George Washington Carver and for any evidence that he showed courage, helped others, or did something important. ... Option 2: Opinion Paragraph Essay Option 3: Multi Paragraph Essay (Shared Writing or Independent Writing): You may use or adapt the attached writing graphic organizer, which mirrors the class chart to
Flag this paper! George Washington Carver was an African American scientist who won international fame for his agricultural research. He was especially noted for his work with peanuts. Carver made more than 300 products from peanuts, including a milk substitute, face powder, printer's ink, and soap. He also created more than 75 products from ...
Art & Essay - for 3rd and 4th graders! What a great way to cap off this unit! Participate in the annual George Washington Carver National Monument Art & Essay Contest. Students create original works of art or write essays based on a theme Prizes are awarded and entries are displayed in the park visitor center.
George Washington Carver Essay. Better Essays. 1774 Words. 8 Pages. Open Document. George Washington Carver was a African American scientist who showed many intriguing thoughts of nature throughout his life span of being one of the most dedicated scientist. George was born in Diamond Missouri, but his exact date of birth is not known by people.
An offer came to Carver from Booker T. Washington to teach at Tuskegee, Alabama in 1896. Carver accepted and would remain there until his death in 1943. Carver immediately became interested in helping the poor black farmers of the surrounding area as a botany and agriculture teacher to the children of ex-slaves. Dr.
George Washington Carver George Washington Carver was born a slave in Diamond Grove, Missouri. As a small child Carver was rescued from a band of Confederate kidnappers. From early on Carver was determined to get himself an education. Carver began his schooling in Newton Country, and while attending school he also worked very hard as a farm hand.
George Washington Carver 3 essay from our essays database at Essays Bank. Browse more than 30 other categories of academic papers. 1(888) 609 0032 1(877) 741 7256; Home; ... George Washington Carver 3 Essay specific features . Issue: Miscellaneous . Written by: Gloria D . Date added: September 10, 2014 . Level: University . Grade: A .
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Decent Essays. 500 Words. 2 Pages. Open Document. George Washington Carver. George Washington Carver was born during the civil war years on a Missouri farm near Diamond Grove, Newton Country in Marion, Township Missouri. Even Carver himself was uncertain of his own birth date. In early manhood he thought that he was born in the year of 1865.
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375 Words. 2 Pages. Open Document. George Washington Carver, one of the best scientists of his time. He helped shape ourlives by inventing many things, mostly involving peanuts and sweet potatoes. Without him, ourlives would be much different than they are now. He invented many things with peanuts andother crops, he helped farmers by teaching ...
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