George Washington Carver
Peanut Man!
Early Life
George Washington Carver was the son of Mary and Giles, who were slaves of Moses Carver. He was destined to be an amazing inventor, being that he had the potential at birth. George was born during the Civil War. He was kidnapped a week after birth along with his sister and mother from the Carver farm by raiders from Arkansas. They were sold in Kentucky, and among them, George was rescued by an agent of Moses Carver and was brought back to Missouri. The end of the Civil War in 1865 brought slavery to an end I Missouri. Moses Carver and his wife, Susan, kept George and his brother James at their home after that time.
Later Life
After George graduated from Iowa State, he went on a career of teaching and research. Carver's special status came from his achievements, as well as a degree from a prominent institution not normally opened to black people. Areas of research and training including methods of crap rotation and the making of different cash crops for farmers in places heavily planted with cotton. Carver's difficult work at Tuskegee Institute included amazing research on plant biology that brought him to national prominence. Many of these early experiments focused on the making of new uses for plants such as peanuts, sweet potatoes, soybeans and pecans. The hundreds of things he invented includes plastics, paints, dyes and even a kind of gasoline!