George Washington Carver
His mother, Mary, was a slave on a prosperous farm on the Diamond Grove prairie and his father, a slave from a neighboring homestead, had died in an accident before his birth. Young George was a young infant when Confederate guerilla forces kidnapped him, his mother, and one sister. All were sold in Arkansas but Moses Carver, owner of Mary and her children, hired a man to find his slaves. Infant George was found and returned to Carver. The child was very ill and would remain frail throughout his childhood. Because of this, young George could not perform heavy chores around the farm or help in the fields.
The Carvers were kind to the orphaned boys and reared them. George spent his free time exploring the prairie and the adjacent forest. He also tended the flowers around the Carver cabin and under his care, Susan Carver’s roses, sweet peas, and geraniums flourished. George’s knack with plants become well known and neighbors often sent for “Carver’s George” to care for plants that were not doing well. Young George also established a secret garden in the forest where he often took sick plants. Through trial and error, he discovered what plants did well in various soils as well as which needed more sunlight than water.
George and his older brother Jim sometimes accompanied Moses Carver when he visited the county seat of Neosho eight miles away. On one trip to town, George saw black children attending school. Until that moment he had not realized that black children could be educated and he vowed he would attend school.
Back at the Carver farm, George, age eleven, told the Carvers that he wanted to go to Neosho to attend school. Despite his young age, Moses and Susan Carver allowed him to make the journey. Young George assured the couple that he would find somewhere to board in exchange for doing the light chores Susan had taught him. With a spare shirt, part of his rock collection, and some food, he set out on foot for Neosho.
He spent his first night in a barn loft near the school and in the morning he waited behind a house nearby. A local midwife and washerwoman, Aunt Mariah Watkins, lived there with her husband. When she discovered the young boy, she invited him to wash and have breakfast. The Watkins allowed George to stay in their home. After identifying himself as “Carver’s George”, Aunt Mariah told the boy that his name was now George Carver and sent him to school.
Despite the fact he had never attended school before, George soon excelled beyond the brightest students in Neosho’s Lincoln School. He devoured books at recess and read while doing chores for the Watkins. At thirteen, George had learned everything the teacher could teach him and set out to further this education. A local black family was moving to Fort Scott, Kansas and he rode along. He took care of the mules to pay his way. In Fort Scott, young George Carver worked hard to earn money to pay for his education. He attended school and lived a meager existence. He worked as a cook, laundering clothing, and for a local blacksmith who was also black. During his second year in Kansas, he arrived at the smithy to find the blacksmith being lynched.
Frightened, he fled Fort Scott with his few possessions and wandered for the next few years. In 1885, he graduated from high school in Minneapolis, Kansas. By that time, he had given himself the middle name of “Washington”. Still eager for additional education, George Washington Carver applied to a Presbyterian college in northeast Kansas. He spent the summer working in Kansas City to earn money for school and arrived at Highland College only to find that he wasn’t welcome. College administrators had not been aware that he was black and would not allow him to attend classes.
Carver homesteaded a 160-acre claim in Kansas but did not stay on the place long enough to earn ownership. Instead, he enrolled at Simpson College in Indiana after determining that he would be accepted despite his skin color. He was the single black student among the 300-member student body. At Simpson, Carver excelled in all his courses but especially in art and music studies. Advisors told the young man that he could have a successful career in either field but Carver chose experimental agriculture. During his time at Simpson, Carver earned money to pay his way by doing laundry for other students.
To pursue this course of study Carver transferred to Iowa State Agricultural and Mechanical College. As before, the brilliant student did menial work to pay his way but he excelled in academics. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture in 1894 at the age of 30. Carver became a faculty member and specialized in botany. He earned his Masters degree in 1896 and soon after he received a letter from Booker T. Washington, noted African-American educator.
Booker T. Washington had founded his Tuskegee Institute in 1881 in Alabama to provide blacks with the opportunity to higher education. Most blacks in the Deep South were farmers so Washington felt the school needed to have an Agricultural Department. He invited Carver to join the staff at Tuskegee and Carver, feeling that this was his destiny, accepted.
Agriculture had long been a prime industry in the South but the future was bleak at the time Carver went to Alabama. Decades of planting cotton had drained much of the soil’s resources and the boll weevil had almost destroyed the cotton industry. Carver began by teaching soil conservation and crop rotation. His lessons expanded outside the Institute and he traveled the countryside to talk with farmers about better methods. He suggested that farmers plant peanuts to restore some of the minerals into the depleted soils. Many listened and an abundant peanut crop was harvested. Before Carver made his discoveries, peanuts were not considered a major crop but after his experiments proved the valuable of peanuts, peanut crops expanded over five million acres and were estimated to be worth $200 million dollars.
No one knew what to do with so many peanuts so Carver became experimenting. He called his campus laboratory “God’s little workshop” and discovered nearly 300 ways the peanut could be used. His diverse products included beverages, cosmetics, soaps, shampoos, dyes, paints, stains, stock feed, food products, medicines, and more.
One of the most vital discoveries was that an extract of peanut oil that helps restore deformities in children. His experimentation didn’t stop with peanuts. He developed several new strains of cotton including one called Carver’s Hybrid. He also found a way to extract rubber from the milk of the goldenrod plant.
He also experimented with sweet potatoes, soybeans, and other plants. Many of the products first developed by Carver are vital today.
As head of the Agriculture Department at Tuskegee, Carver set up an annual Visiting Day for farmers from throughout the South. He also developed a mobile farm school to visit farmers who could not come to the school. The United States Department of Agriculture borrowed his idea and later used it in foreign countries.
Carver began writing about farm topics in 1898 and wrote over 40 more works. In 1942, he penned Nature’s Garden For Victory and Peace, a work that proved to be one of the most popular during wartime. He also authored a syndicated newspaper column titled Professor Carver’ Advice.
He remained humble to the end of his life and often would not accept his Tuskegee salary. Despite the countless honors, citations, medals, doctorates, and praise he garnered, Carver sought no personal gain. His favorite garments were a simple, aged tweed suit. Carver often would not accept his salary from the Tuskegee Instituted but still saved $60,000. He donated those savings to create the George Washington Carver Foundation to supported young black scientists in 1940.
Carver died after a fall downstairs on January 5, 1943. Condolences and praise poured in from around the world. George Washington Carver, son of two slaves, was buried at his beloved Tuskegee Institute beside his friend, Booker T. Washington. Today, the school founded by Booker T. Washington is Tuskegee University, a venerable and well-respected institution.
His memory lives on at Tuskegee and on the site of his birth. In July 1943, Congress created a National Monument in his honor. The George Washington Carver National Monument is located two miles west of Diamond, Missouri and north of Neosho. The site of the cabin where Carver lived with Moses and Susan Carver is marked. A �¾ mile trail meanders through the woodlands and prairie where he first learned about plants.
A house built by the Carvers in 1881 still stands and the Carver family cemetery is part of the monument. 210 acres from the original 240-acre Carver farm are part of the monument. A statue of the young Carver is in a clearing and his voice can be heard. There is also a film about his life and the area’s largest collection of African-American books can be found at the monument’s gift shop. Carver Days are held each summer at the site and the life of this unique, brilliant scientist is remembered with appreciation.
