George Washington Carver
The man of peanuts
George Washington Carver - Mini Bio
Biological Information about G.W. Carver
- born into slavery in 1864
- exact birth date unknown
- died in 1943
The Challenges of His Time
Slavery
George Washington Carver was born into slavery in the middle of the American Civil War. One week after his birth, George and his sister were kidnapped and taken to Arkansas. They were sold as slaves in Kentucky, but an agent from Missouri found them and took them back to their birth state.
George working in his lab
A painting of George
Photo of a young G.W. Carver
The End
In 1865, the Civil war ended, and the CSA had lost to the Union. After this Northern Victory, Slavery was outlawed in George's home state of Missouri.
Growing Up
When George and his family were no longer slaves, their previous owners: Moses and Susan decided to raise George and his brother, James on their own. Susan ended up teaching George to read and write, since no school at the time would accept blacks.
Above: a photo of George's previous owner, Moses Carver
A Smart Kid
As George got older he began to develop a thirst for more and more knowledge. Soon enough he left the home and traveled to an all black school ten miles away. It is then that he began to be called "George Carver."
School
In 1890, after not being accepted into a college in Kansas, George began to study art and music at Simpson college in Iowa. He became greatly interested in depicting nature in his art. It was then that a teacher prompted him to take botany classes at the Iowa State Agricultural college
Above: Iowa State Agricultural College
The Science of Plants
George became the first black student at his school. He surely did not disappoint. He became a professional botanist and decided to study this proffesion for the remainder of his career.
A Rise in Popularity
After getting a job at the Tuskegee institute and ultimately making the institution more popular, George became known nationally for his works in science. Theodore Roosevelt himself asked for his help in the progression of scientific knowledge in the country.
Peanuts!
George Washington made many contributions to science. He discovered over 300 different ways to use peanuts. That sounds crazy right. How can anyone find 300 things to do with a plant? Well, that is exactly what George did. In his early years of studying, he was known as the "Plant doctor", because of his abilities to "heal" plants and soil. George once found a way to keep farm soil from becoming depleted from nutrients. He said the best way to stop this was by rotating the normal crop with peanuts so that the soil will not be fertilizing the same crop for too long.
Other plants!
After devising his idea of replenishing soil with peanuts, Carver found that other crops like Sweet potatoes and pecans could help keep the soil from becoming depleted.
Stuff using Peanuts
Some examples of products George improved or created that involve peanuts include: cooking oil, axle grease, and printers ink
Why G.W. Carver was a great leader and example
George Washington Carver may have been the leader of the Tuskegee Institute and made countless contributions to science, but he was never interested in making himself famous. George cared more about the progression of science and the well being of his colleagues and friends. Let us use his example in how we live, just like many other people did after being inspired by the one and only: George Washington Carver.
Sources
"George Washington Carver." Bio.com. Ed. Bio.com Editors. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 08 May 2016.
http://www.biography.com/people/george-washington-carver-9240299#related-video-gallery
"George Washington Carver." Inventions. N.p., 2008. Web. 08 May 2016.
http://www.black-inventor.com/George-Washington-Carver.asp
"George Washington Carver." History.com. Ed. History Channel Editors History.com Staff. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 08 May 2016.
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/george-washington-carver